The first person to be identified as a "racist" and turned upon was a man lying on the grass and wearing a southern cross singlet. Four young men with their faces covered formed a rolling scrum - their arms over each other's shoulders - and charged over the top of the man who leapt to his feet and was quickly pulled away by police.

On the safe side of the police cordon, the man protested his innocence.

But wasn't he provoking the crowd by wearing a southern cross singlet at Cronulla beach, on the 10-year anniversary of the Cronulla riots?

"I wear this all the time," he told Hack. "I just came down to the beach."

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Whatsapp Protest against Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

Tensions were high. By this time scuffles were breaking out in quick succession. The crowd of about 100 were protesting a memorial event held by anti-Islam groups to mark the 10-year anniversary of the racially-charged riots. The police had formed a cordon to stop the two rival groups confronting each other. A police officer told Hack 300 officers had been deployed. They included mounted units, bicycle police, and squads who turned up in padded riot gear.

A few hundred metres beyond the police cordon, out of sight, in a natural auditorium with grass banks, the 100 or so people at the barbecue were roasting a pig on a spit.

They were so far away they could not hear the crowd chanting: Refugees are welcome, racists are not.

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Whatsapp Sergio Redegalli at the Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

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Whatsapp A spit-roasted pig at the Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

'The potential for conflict and disorder is high'

In recent weeks, the Cronulla riots memorial event had been downgraded from a mock funeral procession through the streets of the southern Sydney suburb, with a coffin representing multiculturalism to be buried on the beach, to a rally with guest speakers, to a simple "halal-free barbecue" near the beach. Police had been worried about the rally inciting violence.

Meet the man who wants to celebrate the Cronulla riots Nick Folkes, the founder of a new anti-Islam party, answers the door wearing a cartoon of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a nuclear bomb.

In the final week police applied for a prohibition order against the event.

"The selection of the date and location for the public assembly as well as its express purpose are, of themselves, both telling and ominous," Justice Adamson stated in her judgement in the NSW Supreme Court.

"[Nick Folkes, founder of the anti-Islam Party for Freedom] would be wholly unable to control a crowd of hundreds.

"The potential for conflict and public disorder on Saturday . . . is high."

In part, this was because of the expectation that 'left wing' groups would oppose the rally. Folkes had told police he expected about 400 supporters and 400 opponents.

Although he said he did not condone violence, Party for Freedom had posted an invitation to the Socialist Alliance on its Facebook page:

"We invite Socialist Alliance to our massive Cronulla Beach Party."

"The prospect that members of the opposing camps would resolve their differences by discussion and debate is no more than fanciful," Justice Adamson said in her judgement.

On Friday, she made an order to prohibit the public assembly. Meanwhile, in the Federal Court, community leader Jamal Rifi and Sutherland Shire had brought a separate prohibition order against Folkes. He could not hold a rally, but he could still hold his proposed "halal-free barbecue".

Neither prohibition made much difference. They only meant Folkes would not be able to make a speech at the memorial event.

On Friday before the event, Hack asked one of the guest speakers, Sergio Redegalli, (who caused controversy in 2010 when he painted a 'ban the burqa' mural in Newtown), if he would accept responsibility for any violence on the day.

"I cannot be responsible for other people's actions, but I will do my best if I see someone doing a stupid thing to tell them to pull their head in

"That's all I can do."

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Whatsapp Police cordon at the protest against the Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

'Are you worried about today?'

From Cronulla train station to Don Lucas Reserve - where Folkes planned to hold his barbecue - is about two kilometres along the seaside. At 11am on Saturday, before the group protesting the anti-Islam barbecue arrived, the route was thick with police and reporters.

It was a sunny day with good surf and the mood was relaxed. The air smelled of coconut tanning oil. "Are you worried about today?" a reporter asked a bunch of teenager surfers.

"Not really," was the response.

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Whatsapp Lifesavers watch on at the 10-year anniversary of the Cronulla riots.

Seated at Don Lucas Reserve was Silver, a retiree born and bred in Cronulla, a former lifesaver who liked to reminisce about the '70s and days "catching waves and picking up chics".

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Whatsapp Heidi and Silver watch on at the 10-year anniversary of the Cronulla riots.

"Good day to rob a bank," he said, watching squadrons of police roll into the carpark.

Like many in Cronulla, he was embarrassed by the lingering memory of the riots, and angry at groups like Party for Freedom for drawing attention to the anniversary.

"There's been a bit of trouble over the years but nothing started by locals," was his take on the causes of the Cronulla riots 10 years ago.

He had heard there were buses of anti-Islam supporters coming from Canberra and Melbourne today.

Then there were separate buses of "anti-fascist" departing from Sydney University.

About 12pm, with the Channel 7 chopper hovering overhead, the noise of chanting came over the rise and police began to marshal themselves, calling to each other "watch your gaps" and "shuffle up".

The protesters met the cordon and stopped.

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Whatsapp Protest against Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

"There weren't any police here 10 years ago," Silver said.

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Whatsapp Bicycle police at the 10-year anniversary of the Cronulla riots.

'Ten years ago they won'

With the protesters blocked going forward, the focus became the megaphone chants: Muslims under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back.

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Whatsapp Protest against Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

Among the protesters was Paul, also a retiree, the son of Italian immigrants to Australia. He had caught the bus from Sydney University. "As a fellow immigrant, having a childhood with a bit of racism, it's something you don't forget," he said.

Sarah Fitzmeyer told Hack she had Vietnamese friends who were afraid to go to Cronulla, 10 years after the riots.

She felt the riots had not been resolved. "Ten years ago they won," she said.

Many identified as anarchists, wore face masks, and refused to speak to media. They were a vocal minority who called themselves Antifa (anti-fascism).

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Whatsapp Protest against Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

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Whatsapp Protest against Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

At one point, someone claimed one of the many photographers inside the cordon was a police informant. They stood blocking him. Another held a t-shirt in front of the lens of a TV cameraman.

Hack asked if the protest was playing into the hands of the anti-Islam groups, the spectacle of confrontation giving the groups more attention and media coverage.

"It does publicise the event, but it also publicises our opposition," said one man, who did not want to be named.

"We have to get in their early and cut off the head of the hydra. We're here to take care of extremists from the white community."

But there was no way through the police lines. The protesters could not outflank them, stopped by the sea on one side and houses on the other. It was then some in the crowd began outing people as "racists" who had infiltrated the protest.

Each time someone was called a racist there would be a sudden melee. A squad of police in armoured vests would charge into the fray and pull the person out of the cordon.

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Whatsapp Protest against Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

A middle-aged woman draped in an Australian flag caught was told to "take that fascist flag off now".

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'There is a clash of cultures'

By 2pm, police had arrested one man for offensive behaviour and another for breaching the peace. The protesters had been escorted back to the train station, as they passed in front of seaside restaurants, the diners stood up to film the procession on their phones.

People gathered on apartment balconies to watch.

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Whatsapp A woman watches police on horseback from her apartment at Cronulla.

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Whatsapp Diners film police at Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

Back at the barbecue, police told the anti-Islam groups the protesters had gone, and they should also pack up and be gone by 2:30pm.

About 100 had turned up on either side - far short of the estimated 400 each.

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Whatsapp The anti-Islam barbecue held at Cronulla on the 10-year anniversary of the Cronulla riots.

Among the people at the barbecue was Kim Vuga, founder of the Love Australia or Leave party. She said it has a growing membership of 250 - half of what is needed to register as a political party.

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Whatsapp Elizabeth the 'Pig Fairy' and Kim Vuga, founder of the Love Australia or Leave party, at the Cronulla anti-Islam barbecue.

She said the riots should not be marked annually, but maybe every 10 years.

Asked what was being marked, she replied, "It's a reminder there is a clash of cultures."

She was referring to the clash of civilisations theory proposed by the political scientist Samuel Huntington (and referred to by former Tony Abbott in a Daily Telegraph op-ed this week), but she could equally have meant the clash a few hundred metres away.

It is not known how much the police operation cost.