A fire-breathing yoga teacher who goes by the name of Petrol Panther says his only regret about twirling flaming batons in front of protesting Covidiots at Sydney's 'Freedom Rally' super-spreader event is that he cut his own hair the night before.
Demonstrators in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on Saturday lashed out against lockdowns which subject about 14 million Australians to restrictions imposed to quell the worrying number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Coronavirus cases in the Sydney outbreak grew by a record for the Delta strain of 163 cases on Saturday and a further 141 on Sunday.
But it wasn't enough to deter about 3,500 furious Sydneysiders from breaking the rules and causing chaos in the streets without face masks, and exposing millions of people to the highly-contagious variant.
Among the campaigners was heavily tattooed 'energy healer' James Ward-Collins, who amassed huge crowds of spectators fire twirling at the rally.
Pictured: James Ward-Collins raising his fire sticks at the anti-lockdown protest in Sydney on Saturday
James Ward-Collins (pictured), 28, said he was shocked when police sprayed him with a fire extinguisher
Arial video footage showed the 28-year-old, who is from Sydney's affluent Castle Hill but lives in Maroubra in the city's eastern suburbs, putting on an energetic display in front of seething Australians who gathered in close to watch.
Moments later, police used a fire extinguisher on the shirtless man to put an end to the show.
He was carted off in handcuffs as the protest descended into pandemonium.
Many participants carried signs reading 'Jesus saves' and 'my body, my choice', chanted provocative lines such as 'f**k Gladys', and brawled in the streets.
Ward-Collins told Daily Mail Australia he has no regrets about the performance itself because 'I believe there is an agenda to destroy our Australian culture, our rights, our freedoms, our small businesses and out "normal" way of living'.
Pictured: James Ward-Collins being taken by police after being sprayed with a fire extinguisher
James Ward-Collins (pictured) was arrested and charged with flouting Covid-19 restrictions
James Ward-Collins (pictured) will appear in court next month. He lives in Maroubra in Sydney' eastern suburbs
'I am a fire lover and I brought my stuff down and I wasn't attention-seeking or [sic] tryna boost my ego or anything, it was literally in the moment - felt the only time to do it in such a large crows safely and I did it.'
While recalling the makeshift show, he said he was 'really in the moment' when police pointed a fire extinguisher at him.
He claimed cops did not ask him to stop his impromptu street performance before he was blasted.
'It kind of blinded me and stunned me and then I was being pulled out of the crowd by police and handcuffed and taken away,' he said.
He was charged with flouting Covid-19 movement restrictions and will appear in court next month, but his only regret was that he cut his own hair on Friday night.
Ward-Collins acknowledged the event - which he claims was attended by 10,000, rather than 3,500 reported by police - could lead to more Covid cases, but isn't particularly concerned.
'If I get the virus, I would rather recover naturally without an extra shot of contaminants being injected into my body,' he said.
Pictured: James Ward-Collins beng escorted out of the Sydney CBD in handcuffs
James Ward-Collins says he is a 'fire lover' and did not intend to draw such a crowd with his fire twirling
'Anyone who wants to get vaccinated should do so and anyone who doesn't want to get vaccinated should be able to live their life without forced compliance.'
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Sunday that a woman in
