The man who filmed police surrounding elderly women on a park bench during Melbourne anti-lockdown protests has revealed what made him start recording.
Elia Palombino, 35, who lives off St Kilda Rd near the Shrine of Remembrance, said he was not part of the protest but was on a bike ride around the Tan track when the incident caught his attention on Saturday.for the first time, Mr Palombino told NCA NewsWire five police officers “went straight to the ladies and surrounded them” all of a sudden.“They started intimidating the women, they threatened them to the point where if they didn’t identify themselves they would be arrested.
Footage captures police officers surrounding two elderly women as they question them for identification.“Taking their phones off them in a sneaky way by walking behind them, that’s basically harassment, that’s where I think we have a very big problem here.” He said the ladies weren’t there when he rode back past 40 minutes later and he hoped they weren’t arrested but were “just moved on”.Elia Palombino said the incident caught his attention on a bike ride.“No, I’m not standing up,” one of them says firmly.She goes on to raise her voice, again questioning why she is under arrest.The other woman had been recording the encounter, until a male officer walked behind her and appeared to snatch the device from her hand.
Police arrest an anti-lockdown protester near Albert Park Lake in Melbourne on Saturday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Daniel Pockett“It’s heartbreaking seeing this beautiful city heading down something that we don’t deserve at all.Victoria Police confirmed it was aware of the vision but were unable to comment specifically without details of the officers involved, given the high number of police working on the protest.
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