Australian News

The photographer, who was not wearing anything to cover his face, claims he was deliberately targeted by officers.

“It must have been targeted as I was standing well behind and not part of the main group. Usually, they shoot the rubber bullets at the lower body, not the upper body. If I was at the front or bending over, I could understand it,” he said.

He has covered up to one hundred rallies since October last year, posting photographs to the social media accounts of several Pro-Palestinian and human rights organisations.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said: “There is absolutely no evidence to suggest police targeted any photographers.”

What's that saying? "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"? I highly doubt the police were there with a plan to target photographers. It seems much more likely to me that a combination of a) poor training and b) heat of the moment stupid decision making is the reason why the officer fired in that manner.

Anyway, this is all just further evidence of why the escalation of protests from both sides is insanely stupid. Innocent people end up getting hurt when protestors decide to assault police and the police retaliate with disproportionate force:

Anti-war demonstrators hurled rocks, eggs, beer bottles and canned food at police, who responded with stun grenades, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets during a series of skirmishes outside the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday.

And every time a protest turns violent like this, it just makes it more likely that disproportionate force will be used in the future.