Police swell in number with reports of crowd suppression weaponry including water cannons, shields and batons.
This comes after the police have intermittently engaged in violent episodes against protesters as well as engaging in bizarre tactics such as defending pallets being used as bases to concrete bollards, takedowns at pre-dawn raids, even stopping toilet maintenance and, most recently, the forced removal of cleaning facilities.
In addition, politicians have refused to meet or even hear the protestors, with prime minister Jacinda Ardern noted to use terms such as “imported”, “covid camp”, “certainly not the largest”; Labour’s Michael Wood, emboldened, ranted with the infamous “river of filth” commentary, all within the beehive. Speaker Mallard tried sprinklers, loud music, even strongly suggesting that the press not do any interviewing of the protestors (Barry Soper from ZB was the first to speak with protestors and found the opposite to mainstream media reports).
As fears spike that the police will bring a new escalation of violent force against the protestors, a statement has been released:
“As you have already heard, there is a larger than usual number of Police in Wellington tonight.
We are very concerned about what they may be planning to do to the peaceful protesters of Parliament tonight.
In order to reduce the chance of anything unfortunate happening, we request that as many New Zealanders as possible come to central Wellington tonight. If you know people that live in Wellington or within two hours’ driving distance, encourage them to head down for moral support.
Increased numbers of people is the best deterrent against disproportionate police behaviour.
You don’t need to join the protest, just be an extra set of eyes on the perimeter. If you have a smartphone, be ready to take photos/record videos.
If you can’t come down, be ready to reshare Livestreams and other online videos if anything happens.
Remain peaceful. Do not allow yourself to be provoked. Do not take the bait.
“Peace and Love””
