By Australian Police Tear Gas Pro-Djokovic Crowd After Legal Win
(by Francis Martel | Breitbart) – Police in Australia pepper-sprayed and clashed physically with a mob of supporters of tennis champion Novak Djokovic on Monday evening in Melbourne after the crowd began blocking car traffic and standing on a vehicle they appeared to believe carried Djokovic.
Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open champion and tied for most Grand Slam victories in men’s tennis history, attempted to enter Australia last week to prepare for the tournament, which begins next week. Border Force agents detained him and forced him into a migrant detention facility on the grounds that he had not received a Chinese coronavirus vaccination. Djokovic has publicly opposed the novel vaccine products and reportedly entered the country with a medical exemption issued by the federal government.
A judge overturned his detention and restored his visa on Monday, arguing that Border Force did not give Djokovic any time or proper ability to challenge the revocation of his visa. Australia has a vaccine mandate in place for foreigners but claims to issue medical exemptions when necessary.
A transcript of Djokovic’s conversation with Border Force agents published as part of the hearing suggested that Djokovic received exemption documentation for the vaccine mandate from the government of the state of Victoria and Tennis Australia, the organization that runs the Australian Open. Border Force abruptly revoked the visa claiming the federal government was not part of the process to allow him into the country.
Australian outlets reported on Monday that a large group of fans “became rowdy” outside of the offices of Djokovic’s legal team celebrating the judge’s order to release him from migrant detention immediately. The crowd appeared to believe Djokovic himself was in one of the cars leaving the building. Australian outlets could not confirm if he was; his whereabouts are unknown at press time.
Absolute mayhem by Novak Djokovic’s lawyer’s office on Collins Street. A car leaving the office is completely surrounded by people cheering “free Nole” pic.twitter.com/H3mAsEHSdX
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) January 10, 2022
“The chanting and dancing around the car became more intense and eventually people were dancing on top of the car and banging on its windows,” Australia’s The Age reported. “Around this time, police began moving people away from the front of the car. Some fans then reacted by shoving officers and verbally abusing them. Police used O.C spray (capsicum/pepper spray) to move them along.”
Police pepper sprayed a group of fans after they blocked the path of a car they believed was carrying Djokovic
Fans were banging on the window, throwing bottles at the car and two people were jumping up and down on top of it @theage https://t.co/AdK3kmQmWr pic.twitter.com/vwyYrofJZg
— Paul Sakkal (@paulsakkal) January 10, 2022
