Two Men Arrested and Charged After Sydney Anti-Immigration Rally

Two people have been arrested in the hours following the anti-immigration rally in Sydney over the weekend, after words turned to blows in a city bar.

Police were called to Bar Broadway in Chippendale at 5:40pm on Sunday evening after reports that a brawl had broken out following a group of pub goers yelling offensively at a passerby on the street.

Officers attempted to disperse the group, when 48-year-old Matthew Smith assaulted a male constable. Police allege that when attempts were made to arrest Smith, another man, 29-year-old Sean Raics, also attacked the same officer.

Capsicum spray was deployed, and the pair attempted to run away, but were quickly thwarted in their efforts. Police apprehended them after a short pursuit on foot.

The officer sustained minor injuries following the incidents.

The men were charged with affray, assault police officer in execution of duty without actual bodily harm and hinder or resist police officer in the execution of duty.

Raics was taken to Surry Hills Police Station, and Smith to Day Street Police Station, with inquiries into the incident ongoing.

The two men have been refused bail and are expected to face Bail Division Local Court later on Monday.

Anti-immigration rallies held across the country

Police believe that both men had attended the anti-immigration march held in Sydney earlier in the day, which saw an estimated 15,000 people uniting on the streets chanting “send them back” amid other white supremacist sentiments.

Protesters marched from Belmore Park next to Central Station, to Victoria Park in Camperdown, with speeches heard from neo-Nazi-linked group, the National Socialist Network, during an open mic portion of the day.

30 black-clad members led a chant of “heil Australia” and “blood and honour”, to mixed responses from the crowd. Some attendees booed the men as they left.

Concurrently, a rally supporting refugees attracted a few hundred people, while the regular pro-Palestine march attracted two to three thousand.

Despite the number of people gathering in the city, only one arrest was made, with a woman charged with breaching the peace after allegedly shouting abuse at the pro-Palestine march in Hyde Park.

Rallies took place in across the country, with similar anti-immigration rallies in Melbourne, Brisbane, Townsville, Adelaide, and Canberra, with the latter attracting One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, and Senator Malcolm Roberts to the microphone.

The federal minister for multiculturalism, Anne Aly, told ABC radio on Monday that the rallies were “clearly racist” and had “prey[ed] on legitimate concerns”, such as housing and the cost of living.

“I would say to those who marched and who argued that they have … those legitimate concerns, that they were organised by Nazis, the very purpose of them was anti-immigration,” she said.

“One of the very clear calls to action that was listed there was anti-Indian immigration, against people coming from India. Now that, to me, is clearly racist when you target a specific ethnicity.”