A school teacher who was physically assaulted during Sunday’s attack on Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne has described the incident as one of the most terrifying moments of her life.
The teacher, who asked not to be named, said she had spent the afternoon at the protest camp, attending a smoking ceremony.
She was walking back to her car when she saw “50 to 60 men in black, marching in formation” towards the First Nations site.
“I froze. I pulled out my phone and started filming. I knew that campsite was filled with mostly women, people who weren’t prepared for a fight. Suddenly they were raided and beaten,” she said.
She recalled seeing three women kicked and punched before she herself was targeted.
“He grabbed my hair and ... hit me in the face. I tumbled backwards down the hill. He straddled me and punched me over and over again,” she said.
The attack broke her nose and left her traumatised.
“I can’t sleep. I’m terrified to walk through the city. I know it will have long-lasting effects,” she said.
‘Not a clash, we were terrorised'
The teacher disputed media descriptions of the attack as a “clash between two groups.”
“There was no clash. We got terrorised,” she said.
She described the attackers as highly organised and premeditated, wearing mouth guards and body cameras and communicating via walkie talkies.
“These are not normal people. They’ve been groomed and militarised,” she said.
Young men weaponised by extremists
Beyond her own injuries, the teacher said the violence raised urgent questions about how young men are being recruited into extremist groups.
“As a teacher, I feel like we’re failing them. These boys are vulnerable, they’re looking for a sense of belonging, and they’re being preyed on by neo-Nazi leaders,” she said.
She called for rehabilitation and support programs to steer young people away from hate groups.
“I don’t think these boys are inherently bad. If I sat down with one of them over a cup of tea, he’d see me as human.
"But they’ve been dehumanised and taught it’s okay to attack a random woman.”
Minister condemns attack 'in the strongest terms'
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy spoke out against the violence on Thursday, saying there is "no place" for hate.
"But that's what we saw examples of on Sunday," she said.
"We saw footage of men armed with sticks and rods. We saw brutal beatings of people at the camp.
"We saw the Aboriginal flag, an official flag, stomped into the mud."
Minister McCarthy said she had spoken with Uncle Robbie Thorpe, Camp Sovereignty's leader, thanking Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe for facilitating the conversation.
She condemned the attacks as promoting violence and stoking fear in the community.
"These thugs set out to attack migrants and First Nations people on the same day," she said.
"They attacked our newest Australians - and our oldest.
"As Minister for Indigenous Australians, I condemn the violent and reprehensible attack on Camp Sovereignty in the strongest possible terms.
"I stand in solidarity with those injured and impacted at the site, and those affected right across this country."
Call for accountability
The teacher who was attacked at Camp Sovereignty welcomed the arrest of neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell, but said more needs to be done to dismantle extremist networks.
“I want to see those older men who are directing these children behind bars,” she said.
She said the attack on Camp Sovereignty - a site of ceremony and cultural resistance - was an attack on Aboriginal sovereignty itself.
“People are struggling with cost of living, but immigrants and Aboriginal people are not the target. These men went after a sacred site, and women, deliberately.”
