Police have defended the use of pepper spray at a rally that turned violent outside Victoria’s parliament, with two women arrested.
The #WomenWillSpeak event, which took place outside Parliament House about midday on Saturday, was met with a large group of counter-protesters, who were separated by a large police presence.
A Victoria police spokesperson said OC spray had to be used when members of the counter-protest attempted to breach the police line.
Footage on social media shows least two protesters were tackled to the ground by officers before the OC spray was deployed.
A photographer for the Herald Sun, who was covering the event, was also knocked over and received pepper spray to the face and eyes.
The police spokesperson said it was “disappointed at the behaviour of many” of the 100 people who attended the rally.
“Our members were confronted by hostile members of the crowd who acted out violently towards police,” they said.
“We have a long history of supporting peaceful protest but will not tolerate disgraceful and unlawful behaviour.
“OC Spray was deployed when members of the group attempted to breach the police line.”
Police said two women aged in their 20s were arrested at the scene and are expected to be charged on summons.
They said they would also review available footage of the rally to “identify any further offending”.
Melbourne Activist Legal Support (Mals) sent a team of seven legal observers to the rally.
They said they had concerns about what they described as “dangerous crowd control tactics” by police, including the use of OC spray against protesters and “the use of police horses in crowded conditions”.
“Any loss of control of a horse in crowds, even briefly, can have potentially fatal consequences,” Mals legal observer Sam Mills said.
“Mals has repeatedly called for any use of horses by Victoria police at protests to be immediately prohibited.”
The organisation said it raised similar concerns regarding “biased and discriminatory policing” a year ago at the “Let Women Speak” event, which was headlined by British activist Kellie-Jay Keen, who also goes by Posie Parker.
That protest was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis, who performed the Sieg Heil salute on the front steps of parliament.
Victorian state MP Moira Deeming, who spoke at the event, was later expelled from the Victorian Liberal party and along with Keen, is suing opposition leader John Pesutto for defamation.
The two cases are listed for a case management hearing in the federal court on Thursday.
