Over 400 police and riot squad personnel were called in to prevent clashes over the construction of a mosque in Bendigo, rural Australia.
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The protest began with only about two dozen protesters associated with the group Rally for Diversity gathered on the lawn in front of the Bendigo Town Hall at the designated start time of 12pm. Four protesters were arrested: two for carrying knives, one for having a flare, and another for a minor assault.
At least one arrest has so far been made as tensions run high.
Victoria Police assistant commissioner Stephen Leane told reporters in Melbourne on Friday: “There are people on the far left and the far right who will come tomorrow – I have no doubt – with no intention but to commit violent acts against each other”.
And those in opposition the United Patriots Front participated in giving speeches and flying flags in protest of the first mosque planned for the city.
An estimated 700 anti-mosque and pro-diversity demonstrators took to the streeets in what was a mostly peaceful protest. He accused the Australian government and local authorities of encouraging multiculturalism.
“Islam can only pose a threat to our nation if our weak leadership, or rather complete lack of leadership, is allowed to continue”, he said.
“We should talk and maybe invite them to a barbecue or a dialogue or an event which we can meet and share and talk”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism spokesman, Jerome Small, said that Cottrell’s “neo-Nazi” ideology shows that he is a “wannabe Führer”.
“These fascists, (these) racist bigots, will not march uncontested in our streets”, he said.
Mr Andrews also warned against the rally, and described opponents of the mosque as illiterate outsiders.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that anyone who vilifies another group is working against the national interest.
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“I ask people not to judge Bendigo because the people who are running these rallies are not from our town”, she told the ABC. More than 400 police officers will be on duty across the city on Saturday, stretching the region’s emergency services even thinner as firefighters battle an out-of-control bushfire at Lancefield, south of Bendigo.
