I am so shocked and stunned with the way the NZ Police treated people at parliament today. It seems that the protestors have kept peaceful all along (I know there had been a bit of name calling but nothing violent) – then the speaker of the house ordered Police to get rid of the protestors and it suddenly became very violent. I saw photos of Trevor Mallard on a veranda seeming to enjoy what was going on.
The live stream I saw this morning showed nothing short of assault and brutality on many people — Men, Women and Children. It was absolutely shocking — people have broken bones, been kicked, punched, dragged along the concrete — you name it and the mainstream media are trying to commend the police on how they handled it.
My wife and I decided to go in to Parliament and show some support and try to work out what was going on. To be honest it was absolutely disgusting, intimidating and shocking. Hundreds of police with Masks, Gloves, handcuffs, Tasers, battens, pepper Spray — you name it. They were all lined up and more and more coming in and marching around and showing they were ready to launch at any time on the protestors. They had just been pepper spraying just before we arrived. A lot of the police were not sworn officers they were young people from the police college that had not even graduated and looked uncomfortable and way out of their depth. A lot of them actually looked quite upset. I noticed a lot of the young police got emotional when the National Anthem and other things were sung as they knew what they were doing was not right — they were following orders and probably wondering what type of organisation they had joined.
There was constant tension in the air and the threat that the police were going to launch another assault on the peaceful people that were singing and just wanted to talk to the political leaders about their concerns. There was lots of posturing from the Police — senior Police would come along and whisper in the ear of the other police — just constant tension where you did not feel safe. So much for maintaining health and safety — they had even padlocked key exit gates.
I was feeling quite uncomfortable and approached a senior looking police officer and asked to know my rights. I wanted to know what laws had been broken, what my rights were etc. He just laughed at me and told me to go to the Police station during normal business hours to ask those questions. They all looked aggressive and none of them wanted to talk – they just stood there with their large masks on. I asked why they all of the Police were all on the other side of the fence and pointing at us with no one on our side — I said we should have police available to let us know our rights etc. Again he laughed. He did not answer any of my questions, appeared out of his depth and did not offer to get any of the other 400 or so police officers to answer any of the questions — he was totally dismissive and made it clear he did not care. I also asked him what the protestors had done to turn this into a non peaceful event and he laughed at that too. he seemed to have a blank stare and just not care. [a zombie —Eds]
Today what I saw was the most disgusting abuse of power and total focus on Police pleasing the political leaders and protecting them from peaceful people wanting to have free speech.
What I saw on live stream shocked me then to go and be there and see the behavior for myself was absolutely disgusting and left me wondering how things have got so bad so fast with our Government and I am seeing more and more that we have been turned into a police state. I hope and pray that things improve soon.
Many more comments on the NZ Truckers Freedom Convoy 2022 FB Page.
Intelligent people now know for sure that the scamdemic has nothing to do with health and everything to do with controlling the people. Like Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland in 1972, this action by the Jacinda Junta and state forces headed by Mr Andrew Coster will be totally counter-productive.
I understand that at least ten police officers have resigned following yesterday’s day of police shame. Can anyone confirm that? I don’t suppose looking on Stuff, the Herald or TVNZ will be any use, they just seem to be ramping up the lies and misinformation in line with government instructions.
I think the lack of knowledge of many protesters on parliament grounds is demonstrated by the author’s confusion about “what laws had been broken, what my rights were etc”.
A quick search on the Covid 19 website brings up 2 potential breaches of the law under Red light:
– Gatherings are limited to 25 people if My Vaccine Passes are not being used.
– You must wear a face mask at a gathering if the defined space is shared with other groups or members of the public.
While everybody has the right to free speech, that doesn’t give them the right to trample over the rights of others. Many people disagree with rules and policies e.g. don’t agree that smoking should be banned from hotels, but sometimes the greater good of everybody comes before the rights of the individual.
I would remind you of the letter Dr Martin Luther King wrote from Birmingham, Alabama jail in which he said “Laws are made by humans, and humans unfortunately have a long history of discriminating against each other.”
He went on to say most famously “we have a moral responsibility to obey just laws, and a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. That’s how we expand freedom.”
The two examples you quote of so called breaches under the absurd red light fall very definitely and clearly into the category of unjust laws Dr King was talking about.
as does the law banning smoking indoors in public places.
We look forward to your employer ordering bashing of smokers.
Matey, its already happened!
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus-arrests-follow-marijuana-complaints-video
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, also known as the Cannabis Party, is a political party in New Zealand. It is dedicated to removing or reducing restrictions on the use of cannabis and similar substances
Here’s a song you should enjoy then, expresses your employer’s sentiments precisely : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMhjB4-NCiA
Except it is not law, it is legislation. Legislation is not required to be followed it is only advisory. A court of law decides if harm was done due to not following legislation. Then the law that is broken as a result of not following legislation is used to prosecute. No harm done or no evidence of harm done results in no prosecution. Please explain what LAW was broken.
Underlying all of this is the suspicion that this government thrives on pitting one section of the public against another. It is so unprincipled that it has ‘bought’ the media at large with bribes. It controls the media, despite Stuff’s outrageous claims about independence and factual fair journalism.
Government is so manipulative that one person said to me, he reckoned undercover police disguised as protestors were likely infiltrating and inciting unruly behaviour.
But how do you prove or disprove this possibility/likelihood?
Sad to say this reeks of George Orwell’s 1984 and Big Brother or in this case, Big Sister. So sad.
I’m sure Pravda used to claim to be independent and fair too with it’s “factual” reporting of the glories of the Soviet Union. It is such a pity that they don’t teach history in schools anymore – at least the sort of history that informs and teaches people about things that really happened in bygone days not just myths and legends.
In my seventy odd years plus as New Zealand citizen and returned serviceman I never thought I would ever see this happen in my own country. Absolutely disgusted with the Labour led coalition Govt and the NZ Police with their heavy handed tactics. God help us all.
10/2/22 The day I saw NZ police act in a way I can not unsee. Another law abiding educated, professional Kiwi by birth here with a complete loss of any respect for the NZ police now.