On the third day of a convoy protest against coronavirus mandates, police began detaining dozens of demonstrators camped out on the grounds of New Zealand’s Parliament.
After Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard took the unusual action of sealing the grounds, the arrests occurred.
More than 100 extra officers were dispatched from other parts of the country. Officers established a line and ordered people to leave, but only moved very slowly towards them, as if they were prepared to wait it out.
By noon, more than 50 people had been arrested, with many of them facing charges of trespassing or obstruction. Protective vests were worn by police, but no riot gear or weapons were carried.
According to police, they had informed everyone on the grounds that they were trespassing.
“Police have repeatedly asked to protestors to leave the grounds and have began evicting people from the precinct,” Wellington district commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell said. “While police accept people’s freedom to demonstrate, they must do it in a way that does not disproportionately affect the general public.”
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