The first thing Sly noticed about violent anti-lockdown demonstrators on the weekend

More than 20 police officers were injured in Saturday’s anti-lockdown demonstration, which police say was the most violent protest seen on the streets of Melbourne in decades.

More than 260 people were fined, with about 20 to face court.

John ‘Sly’ Silvester says the first thing he noticed was that many of the protesters were wearing masks.

“This was not because of COVID,” he told Ross and Russel.

“It’s because they came there to fight, and therefore they wore glasses and masks to try and keep the capsicum foam off them.

“These particular people went there not to protest about anything, but to have a fight.”

For the first time, police deployed military-style rifles that fire pepper spray pellets to deter the crowds.

Sly says they’ve got more deterrent measures up their sleeve, including a launcher that fires balls 50 metres away, a stinger grenade, and a huge capsicum canister which can be detonated in the middle of a crowd.

“What you haven’t seen is the 40mm launcher, and that launches a projectile about the size of a very hard squash ball to hit you up to 50 metres away with a punch like Mike Tyson,” he said.

“The stinger grenade … you roll it into the crowd at about five metres and it will explode and release nine 32 calibre rubber pellets, and it’s designed not to go too far, just about the height of your groin.

“If you want to continue down that track, that’s what’s going to happen.”

Press PLAY below to hear more of Sly’s thoughts on the violent protest

Image: Diego Fedele/Getty Images

The first thing Sly noticed about violent anti-lockdown demonstrators on the weekend