It looks like violent anti-maskers aren’t exclusive to the U.S.
According to local reports from Melbourne, Australia, two police officers were allegedly assaulted by a 38-year-old woman after the officers approached her to enforce local policies regarding face masks.
Residents in Melbourne are required to wear face coverings in public, in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. This week two female officers questioned a maskless woman and requested her name, before a confrontation erupted.
“After a confrontation and being assaulted by that woman, those police officers went to ground and there was a scuffle," Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said during a press conference Tuesday. "During that scuffle, this 38-year-old woman smashed the head of the policewoman several times into a concrete area on the ground."
The 26-year-old constable who allegedly had her head bashed into concrete was taken to Frankston Hospital and is now recovering at home, according to The Age. The constable suffered from a concussion and some of her hair was ripped out during the incident.
The other officer was allegedly pushed by the maskless woman, who now faces nine charges including assaulting an emergency worker and recklessly causing injury. She was released on bail and faces trial next year.
Australia has stricter measures in place to combat COVID-19, including fines for failure to wear masks or social distance, a curfew, and local checkpoints. Chief Commissioner Patton previously mentioned an increase in groups of "sovereign citizens" refusing to adhere to these rules.
"We've seen them at checkpoints baiting police, not providing a name and address," he said. "On at least three or four occasions in the last week, we've had to smash the windows of cars and pull people out to provide details because they weren't telling us where they were going, they weren't adhering to the Chief Health Officer's guidelines, they weren't providing their name and address."
Currently there have been 232 deaths related to COVID-19 in Australia.
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