Bertie
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Many of the same agitators were involved in a wave of similar “freedom” protests that rocked Melbourne during its second wave almost a year ago, with organisers tapping into a network of Covid-19 conspiracy activists and latching on to the “World Wide Rally for Freedom” movement overseas.
Saturday’s protests saw the fringe movement of anti-lockdown and anti-vax sceptics go national for the first time, with thousands of protesters flouting restrictions in Sydney and Melbourne, with rallies also taking place in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Organiser and self-described “vigilante” Anthony Khallouf, who runs website Australians vs The Agenda to fight the “socialist, communist, fascist state” pushing the Covid-19 “scam” — admitted he was surprised by the turnout.
“This was not only a slam dunk, it was a home run, a premiership team going from being 18 on the ladder to destroying Richmond by 100 points,” he said.
Mr Khallouf, who is facing charges of incitement for his alleged role in Melbourne’s protests last year, told The Australian last Thursday that Sydney would be “the main event”, predicting his cause would tap into the frustrations of locked-down Sydneysiders, especially in the southwest.
“It was such a crazy day; co-ordinating an event where there are more than 100,000 people all over the country protesting about the exact same thing, at the exact same time and pulling it off without any problems, is a very proud moment,” he said.
Mr Khallouf said he felt no remorse about any Covid-19 infections that resulted from the protests, despite those who attended being slammed by NSW authorities as “halfwits” and “boofheads”.
“Don’t target people in certain demographics, and then you won’t see the consequences of targeting people, that’s basically it,” he said.
Former boxer Anthony Mundine, who was recently fined for breaching health orders, was reportedly seen at the protest, as well as TikTok comedian Jon-Bernard Kairouz.
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