The poster for the 21 August Nationwide Rally for Freedom, Peace and Human Rights – otherwise known as the anti-lockdown march – had been doing the rounds of social media for a number of weeks. And it stated that the event was set to take place at Sydney's Victoria Park at 12 pm.
At ten to twelve, however, there didn't seem to be any participants in sight. Yet, there was a significant NSW police presence. General duties officers, the riot squad and mounted police were scattered throughout the park and the surrounding area.
Over the week prior, NSW police had warned anti-lockdown protesters to stay away. And by Saturday, it was well known that 1,400 officers were being deployed throughout the inner city to ensure there was no repeat of the 7,000-strong march that took place on 24 July.
