FARRAGO

Seventeen activists were arrested on the second day of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) amid Victoria Police’s increasingly violent response to the IMARC blockade. Police also upped the ante, employing large amounts of pepper spray at least four times today. The effects of pepper spray are more severe than those of tear gas.

Today, it didn’t matter who you were—young or old, protester or observer—no one was exempt from the tyrannical-style of brutality displaced by Victoria Police.

At approximately 9:20am this morning (only half an hour after arriving), myself and another Farrago reporter were pepper sprayed by police. And before you ask; no, neither of us were involved in the protest.

Hundreds of climate protesters turned up to blockade the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) on its first day, leading to 50 arrests and four hospitalisations.

The waters of the South Lawn moat flowed crimson on Wednesday 23 October as protestors gathered in opposition to the University’s involvement in the upcoming International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC).