Animal activists have drawn fire after they deliberately harassed and abused a Sky News reporter at yesterday’s annual Melbourne Cup Parade down Swanston Street to the City’s Federation Square.
The parade is an annual precursor to today’s Melbourne Cup and attracts former winners of the race, jockeys, trainers, other racing identities, fashion mavens and the $200,000 Cup itself.
It had previously attracted a small amount of animal cruelty protestors, however, had a larger turnout yesterday following recent revelations on the ABC of cruelty towards retired thoroughbreds.
Reporting live from the parade, Sky News reporter Patrick Murrell was suddenly set upon by an angry pro-equine mob hurling abuse and giving “the bird” to the camera.
“Why don’t you stop working for Murdoch?” one angry man is heard screaming at Murrell.
“You’re a hack. You failed at university. Your parents paid for university. You’re a fucking hack,” the unidentified protester can be heard screaming.
Other protesters can then be seen yelling profanities into the microphone and jostling the journalist as he attempts to deliver his story.
Fortunately, Murrell remained calm under pressure and was quickly congratulated for his efforts by social media users.
“An extraordinary and disgusting attack on a journalist just doing his job (and doing it well!). The irony of the protesters telling him to get a real job is funny. But also, don’t the protesters want and need their protest to be reported? They should be thanking him not abusing him,” wrote one.
“Disgraceful – @pamurrell is a bloody legend and did well to keep his composure throughout that report,” another added.
“These protesters are a fucking joke what pieces of shit they are but like a true reporter he kept his cool,” penned another fan.
Anti-racing demonstrators doing their best to disrupt Melbourne cup parade @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/dWghDztmO6
— Elias Clure (@EliasClure) November 4, 2019
Meanwhile, controversial media commentator, Prue MacSween, has labelled people who protest horse racing, or intend to protest today’s Melbourne Cup, as “un-Australian pests”.
Speaking on Peta Credlin’s Sky News program last night, MacSween said: “It’s just incredible that people on this vegan-anti everything campaign – who obviously have no jobs and rely on us to keep them in this space – are creating so much havoc.
“It’s an iconic day for all of us… it is the race that stops the nation. I hope we all just ignore these people tomorrow. They’re just pests,” MacSween declared.
