Australian Proud Boys sought combat-trained supporters to 'arrest' police at Covid lockdown protests

Messages on anti-lockdown social media groups reveal role of the far-right group in Covid-related protests

• Australian Proud Boys filmed threatening critics

The far-right Proud Boys in Australia sought people trained in combat to help confront police during anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne last year.

Amid repeated warnings from security agencies in Australia and overseas about the way far-right groups have used the Covid-19 pandemic to recruit, Guardian Australia can reveal that senior members of the neo-fascist Proud Boys group were involved in protests during Melbourne's second-wave lockdown last year.