‘Find another route’: Police warn CBD bridge blockade could put lives at risk

Police have warned pro-Palestine protesters planning to blockade a bridge in Melbourne’s CBD that their demonstration will disrupt crucial emergency services, and urged them to find another route.

A large crowd is expected to descend on the CBD and the King Street Bridge on Sunday afternoon to protest against Israel’s ongoing bombardment and mounting concerns about mass starvation in Gaza.

Event organisers Free Palestine Coalition Naarm said in a statement posted to social media on Friday morning that the Melbourne protest was being held in solidarity with thousands of NSW demonstrators planning to march on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Victoria Police warned the Melbourne demonstration – which plans to shut down the busy King Street bridge – would require hundreds of its officers to be redeployed from other policing duties across the state.

Superintendent Troy Papworth said blocking a major city thoroughfare was a risk police would not accept, and warned that the rally could delay emergency services from reaching people whose lives were at risk.

“I want to be clear that we support lawful and peaceful protests,” Papworth said.

“We do it every weekend in the city. This will be the 92nd rally the police have worked with this group ... since these protests have started, but purposely blocking a major thoroughfare through the city is a risk that we just can’t take. We won’t stand for it.”

Papworth said police had tried to engage with organisers and urged them to change their route and not occupy the bridge.

“As of this morning, they further reiterated their intent on social media to carry out their intent and block the bridge,” he said.

“I want people to imagine if it was their own loved ones who needed emergency services support and that emergency support was delayed by a protest. How would they feel if that was the case?

“Our message for the protest group is to find another route.”

Rally organisers have vowed to let emergency services vehicles through, but police warned it was not enough to mitigate the risk.

Papworth said police had “extensive intelligence” that a smaller group of protesters might cause trouble.

“If they do engage in criminal behaviour, they can expect to bedealt with by police and arrested,” he said.

“We are now asking the broader protest group – the group that we know that are there to protest peacefully and lawfully – to do the right thing for their cause, to consider their protest and to protest lawfully and peacefully because all you’ll be doing is disrupting vital emergency services.”

Organisers of the rally have urged people to “block the city for Gaza” on Sunday where protesters are expected to march from Victoria’s State Library to the King Street Bridge.

“Free the people, free the land, no peace on stolen land,” an Instagram post said.

“Bring pots and pans to highlight the manufactured starvation that is causing mass casualties in Gaza. These shutdowns are in preparation for international mass strikes, sanctions and blockades to end Israeli impunity.”

The Melbourne rally comes as the Palestine Action Group lodged an application for 10,000 people to walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Papworth cited security reasons in declining to comment on how many police would be at the Melbourne rally on Sunday or tactics that could be used by officers.

However, he said police from as far away as Geelong would be in attendance.

Other officers were being called to work on their day off, Papworth said.

On police advice, NSW Premier Chris Minns has refused to grant the group permission to march across Sydney Harbour Bridge, and said NSW Police were not given enough time to safely organise resources for the protest.

NSW Police said the proposed gathering posed too great a risk to the public and officers.

However, organisers said there was no alternative plan and thousands of people were expected to turn out.

In a last-ditch attempt to block the Sydney protest, NSW Police this week filed a summons in the Supreme Court seeking an order to block the protest.

A court decision on the NSW protest is expected on Saturday morning.

Students for Palestine co-convenor Jasmine Duff told Melbourne radio station 3AW that being able to walk over important landmarks “highlighted the importance and seriousness of the devastation” unfolding in Gaza.

“It’s so important in this moment, where we’re seeing mass starvation kill thousands and thousands of people in the Gaza Strip, that people in Australia are willing to raise their voices,” she said on Friday morning.

“That can mean something to people. It can galvanise people.”

Earlier this week, Victoria’s new top cop ruled out pushing for protest permits, and said they had failed to be a game changer elsewhere.

It is the first time Victoria Police has taken a firm, public stance on the issue and could put Chief Commissioner Mike Bush on a collision course with the powerful police union and the state opposition, which have both backed such a scheme.

Melbourne has hosted more than 90 weeks of pro-Palestine rallies in the CBD, along with traffic obstructions from climate change activists.

Last month, an Israeli restaurant was stormed after an anti-police rally, while Land Forces demonstrations caused chaos last year and led to more than 100 arrests.

Free Palestine Coalition Naarm was contacted for comment.

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