Some people attempted to impede the car carrying Abbott & Gillard from leaving; whereupon police reacted with force and threatened the use of batons and pepper-spray, which very nearly escalated the situation. Fortunately, no injuries were incurred.
In the very first reports which came out of the scene news reporters for mainstream channels such as Ten exaggerated the violence of the crowd, depicting the scene as a "riot". Yet, no damage was done to the building; no-one attempted to touch the PM or Mr. Abbott. Whilst exaggerating the level of violence , several early reports failed to mention that the reason for this behaviour was not mere hooliganism, but rather Mr. Abbott's statement regarding the Embassy. By the time that the full picture was reported in later reports, headlines which depicted the PM being assaulted by a violent horde of savage natives and feral hippies had already gone around the world.
Whilst the crowd did not behave in the best way; no-one advocated violence and it was clear that no-one - including the PM or Mr. Abbott - felt physically threatened. The whole thing was turned into a spin story which has no-doubt damaged the image of the peaceful and diplomatic mission of the Aboriginal community and its supporters. Worst of all, it gave hundreds of rednecks - who were not present at the event - a perfect excuse to publicly vent their racist invectives against Aboriginal people all over the country. Embassies are about diplomacy, not violence but diplomacy.