Melbourne Cup protest: Climate change activists cause chaos at Flemington as they block road
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Chaos at the Cup as climate change protesters block roads and launch dirty tirades from the roof of a van against cops and ‘civil’ gamblers
- Climate change protesters arrived at Flemington Racecourse to block roads
- A protester filmed himself arguing with a Victorian police officer
- Protester on a van shouted ‘your days are numbered like civil swine’
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Climate change protesters have descended on the Melbourne Cup and used a van to block a main road outside the track to get on the roof of the car and yell at gamblers.
Protesters on the roof were filmed by a fellow activist yelling at people entering Flemington Racecourse before the main race kicks off at 3 p.m. AEDT.
“Eat your pheasant, drink your wine, your days are numbered like civilian swine,” the protester could be heard from the roof.
The protester behind the camera filmed herself arguing with police and claimed her driver’s license had been confiscated by the officers.
“So we’re at the Melbourne Cup, the police just took my driver’s license and caught us, there’s a van that’s blocking,” she said.
Protesters on the roof of the van shouted, “Eat your pheasant, drink your wine, your days are numbered like civilian swine.”
The woman accused the police officer of calling her a “dirty bastard,” a claim the police officer quickly refuted, reminding the protester that their entire response was recorded.
“You can call someone ac*** and grab him by the neck?” said the woman in the video.
“I wanted to get you out of the way,” the police officer said.
“No, you weren’t, you were a total bastard and you know it,” the woman said.
“I don’t accept you … don’t speak like that,” the police officer replied.
The woman behind the camera also said police seized her vehicle.
A number of protesters stood on the side of the road outside the racecourse
The police officer said she would be fined for making an illegal U-turn on the road.
“Gotta feel like a big man,” said the protester.
“I was trying to get out of the way for the cars to get out… my friends were obviously on some action and I was trying to get out… I was trying to be attentive before you started banging the window with a metal bar .’
The woman was then ordered to leave the area with a request not to return to Flemington for the rest of the day.
The outcry comes when a self-admitted ‘problem gambler’ broke into Flemington Racecourse Tuesday morning before the Melbourne Cup to pour a foreign substance onto the track.
Alarming footage shows at least two people running onto the track in Flemington around 6am on Tuesday to spray a dark liquid over the track in clear protest against the Victoria Racing Club.
The substance has not been officially identified, but has been labeled ‘oily’. One person has reported to the police.
The PRC confirmed that officials cleared part of the track around the 1500 mark on Tuesday morning and said it was safe to continue the race.
Climate action protest group Extinction Rebellion in Victoria said on Tuesday that 1,000 liters of ‘sludge’ had been dumped on Flemington by ‘friends’ of the group.
“We fully endorse this person’s message,” the group said.
“The privileged in our society find that as crises deepen and we see no justice for communities, individuals and animals, ordinary people will be increasingly driven to take these kinds of desperate actions.”
The person who broke through at the track released his own statement via Extinction Rebellion, claiming he was “a problem gambler.”
Two races had already been run when news of the protest came out.
The ‘problem gambler’ protester (above) filmed with the help of at least one other person as they sprayed a dark-colored unknown liquid near the 1500 mark of the Flemington lane