Content Warning: This article contains words and images exploring transphobia, police violence and far-right Nazi ideology.

Victoria Police has been accused of “biased and discriminatory actions” against trans and gender diverse protestors at an anti-trans rally in Melbourne on Saturday.

Melbourne Legal Activist Support (MALS) released a statement of concern on Monday around policing at the rally organised by British anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen.

The rally was attended by self-identified ‘trans exclusionary radical feminists’ (TERFs) and neo-Nazis, and was met with a counter-action organised by a coalition of left-wing and rainbow rights groups.

The independent legal service alleged Victoria Police had a biased approach to crowd management, using excessive force to control the pro-trans group, while facilitating the free movement of neo-Nazis.

“Police commanders and Public Order Response Team (PORT) tactical advisors concentrated crowd control measures almost exclusively on the assembled trans rights groups,” MALS wrote in its statement.

“MALS has observed that chants of 'kill paedo freaks' were simultaneously being yelled [by neo-Nazis] at the trans rights protestors. These actions were clearly intended to provoke and incite the group of arriving trans rights protesters.”

MALS also alleged there were dangerous containment strategies, improper use of pepper spray, use of mounted horses for crowd control and the hindrance of legal observers.

“Police were not powerless to act against the displays of hate-motivated speech or behaviour in the context of Saturday’s protests," MALS wrote in its statement.

"In fact, they had obligations to act.”

In a statement, Victoria Police did not respond directly to any allegations of misconduct, but wrote there were at least six groups that they were required to manage at the event.

“Some of these groups failed to engage with police in the lead-up to the protest, or altered their plans without notice, resulting in the potential for multiple clashes between the opposing groups,” Victoria Police wrote in the statement.

“Consequently, officers were required to form many lines between the different groups to protect the safety of all involved, stop breaches of the peace and prevent any physical violence.”

Victoria Police said there were three incidents of assault against police officers, and that they will review CCTV, body-worn camera and social media footage to determine if any further offences occurred.

Trans activist and convenor of Queer Unionists in Tertiary Education, Amy Sargeant, attended the protest and said she witnessed multiple incidents of violence against the pro-trans group.

“I saw them pepper spraying queer people. I saw police horses stomping on someone’s foot and their foot getting smashed. People getting tackled, people getting kneed in the head,” Sargeant said.

“They did not apply any of that force to the Nazis.”

Another rainbow rights protester, known as Ādaraya, said they felt “no sense of protection” watching neo-Nazis march outside Parliament House behind a line of police.

“It's almost as if they [neo-Nazis] were granted this photo opportunity to have all the space to be able to line up in one straight line, hold up their big sign, and now face it directly to us,” Ādaraya said.

While Victoria Police deployed LGBTQIA+ liaison officers, activists say they weren’t identifiable during the rally.

“They weren’t accessible throughout the rally, which was disappointing. There were at least 50 officers there and not one was showing up to align with us,” Ādaraya said.

There is a well-documented history of police prejudice against LGBTQIA+ people, including a Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission report, a NSW parliamentary investigation, and a Victorian Pride Lobby report that found three in four LGBTQIA+ Victorians did not trust the police to use their powers reasonably.

There are concerns that the events of last Saturday are likely to entrench further distrust for police within the queer community.

Joshua Badge, the co-organiser of grassroots campaign ‘No Police at Pride’, said the incident “demonstrates Victoria Police’s priorities” around which groups needed to be managed at the rally.

“In terms of what this means for the relationship between LGBTQ+ people and police, I’d say this is another notch in a long line of events where police have exercised violence against our community,” they said.

“At any moment they [the police] could have ordered the Nazis to leave because they were disturbing the peace. They chose not to do that.”

Politicians from both sides of Victorian Parliament have denounced the open displays of transphobia and hatred.

“[T]o every trans Victorian, I say this: our Government will always support you. And we’ll always respect you,” Premier Daniel Andrews wrote in a tweet.

The Opposition leader, John Pesutto, has moved to expel Liberal MP Moira Deeming from the party after she attended the rally.

Mr Pesutto has cited Ms Deeming’s association with neo-Nazis as “likely to bring discredit” to the Victorian Liberal Party.

No statement has been released by any major party on issues raised by community members around policing.

Badge said they thought “at the end of the day it's a question of how much force is actually necessary to keep people safe”.

“Consistently we’ve seen police use force far in excess of what’s necessary. The number of police, how heavily armed they are, and the tactics they are using are so inappropriate.”