Protesters have rallied outside the Brisbane Convention Centre that was holding a meet-and-greet with alt-right Youtube personality Lauren Southern.
The 23-year-old outspoken conservative and her co-speaker, Canadian Stefan Molyneux, have been touring the country with their ‘free speech’ speaking tour.
Ms Southern is an open critic of Islam, and multiculturalism as a whole.
Lauren Southern (pictured) is an open critic of Islam, and multiculturalism as a whole
The 23-year-old outspoken conservative and her co-speaker, Canadian Stefan Molyneux, have been touring the country with their ‘free speech’ speaking tour
She openly believes the inclusion of multiculturalism is a detriment to western society, eroding the inherent values of the nation’s culture.
She describes herself as a nationalist and rejects the term ‘alt right’.
Research assistant Gerald Keaney was one of dozens of protesters in attendance of the protest, which attracted a strong police presence.
His purpose for attending the protest, was to avoid a race riot.
Riot police on horses and more than a dozen police four-wheel drives were stationed at Darling Harbour in Sydney on Saturday night
Police presence has been a consistent factor across the nation in Ms Southern’s tour, however violence and protests were avoided in the Sydney leg
‘The long term goal is to actually oppose bigotry itself because the argument is that what bigotry does is it divides and conquers so the way to solve the problems is for people to get together,’ he said.
‘Racist fascists are not welcome here,’ was a chant repeated throughout the protest.
Police presence has been a consistent factor across the nation in Ms Southern’s tour, however violence and protests were avoided in the Sydney leg.
Riot police on horses and more than a dozen police four-wheel drives were stationed at Darling Harbour in Sydney on Saturday night.
In Victoria, Southern’s entourage were billed $68,000 by the state police.
The tab for her New South Wales and Brisbane legs could be just as high.
Despite reaching out for police protection during her tour, she has clashed with officers since arriving in the country.
On Friday, she was apprehended filming outside a Lakemba mosque in Sydney while assessing the Islamic population of the area, officers telling her she was ‘disturbing the peace.’
On Friday, she was apprehended filming outside a Lakemba mosque in Sydney while assessing the Islamic population of the area, officers telling her she was ‘disturbing the peace’