BY SUSAN PRICE
MELBOURNE — The Media, Arts and Entertainment Alliance (MEAA) announced on September 14 that it would support its members taking legal action against the Victoria Police for its use of violent tactics during the September 11-13 protests outside the World Economic Forum.
At a media conference held at Trades Hall, well-known comedian and MEAA member Rod Quantock, who was injured by police, described the brutality he and others experienced at the corner of Power Street and Queensbridge Road on the morning of September 12.
"There was no warning given, no sense of what was about to happen. Riot police just started coming over the fence and falling into the crowd. We had nowhere to go. They were telling us to 'move' but not telling us where. On the one side were the riot police, and on the other, horses", Quantock said.
Quantock described the charge by 500 riot police from out of the Crown Towers building as "not unlike Collingwood going out to play the grand final".
Prior to the attack, police stationed on the gate had "created an atmosphere of calm amongst protesters", assuring them that it was unlikely they would be the target of police action. After the "brutal, almost animal attack" that followed, "any respect that people may have had for the Victorian Police would have dissipated", said Quantock.