Pregnant woman arrested in Ballarat for creating anti-lockdown protest event on Facebook | The Guardian - Michael McGowan:
September 2, 2020 - "Police in Victoria have arrested a pregnant 28-year-old woman in front of her partner and two children for planning an anti-lockdown protest in regional Victoria this weekend. Police arrested the woman, Zoe Buhler, at her home in Miners Rest near Ballarat on Wednesday after she created a 'freedom day' event on Facebook calling for people to protest against the Victorian government’s lockdown measures....
"Video of the arrest shared on social media on Wednesday shows a group of officers handcuffing Buhler in front her partner and children. In the video, Buhler becomes increasingly distressed as she tells officers she is pregnant. 'I have no idea why you guys are doing this,” she tells officers in the video. 'My two kids are here. I have an ultrasound in an hour. I’m happy to delete the post. I don’t really understand what I’ve done wrong. This is ridiculous'....
"On Facebook, the controversial Liberal party backbench MP Craig Kelly, who has been a vocal opponent of lockdown laws, shared the video, saying it was 'what you’d expect to see in Nazi Germany'. 'Every politician that voted for laws that allows a pregnant mother to be handcuffed for a Facebook post (that criticises government policy) stands condemned for eternity,' he wrote.
"In a statement, Victoria police said 'any gathering of this nature is in blatant breach of the chief health officer’s directions and puts Victorian lives at risk.... Those still thinking of attending the protest in Ballarat on Saturday can expect a swift and firm response from police.'
"Buhler is the fourth person to be arrested and charged with incitement in Victoria in recent days as police in Victoria take a hardline approach to the so-called 'freedom day' protests.... The day of freedom protests have been orchestrated by a loosely organised coalition of online groups broadly linked by an entangled web of conspiracy theories ... what experts say is the melding of a bevy of fringe conspiracy groups including QAnon under the umbrella of the Covid-19 pandemic....
"At various times events linked to the protest have reached more than 10,000 people, but Facebook has continued to delete groups and pages associated with the event citing 'misinformation that could lead to imminent physical harm'.... Organisers have been further disrupted by Facebook’s decision to delete the largest group associated with the protest. The group, which had more than 100,000 members, was scrubbed from the social media site on Monday night."
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