At a flag-waving event for Palestine on Waitangi Day, an ugly altercation with protesters has led to a complaint being made against local police.
Veteran activist John Minto has complained to the independent police watchdog after he was pepper sprayed on the footpath during a flag-waving event on Waitangi Day in Lyttelton, while other protesters were reportedly dragged and shoved by police officers. This incident comes amid allegations that the police presence is becoming stronger and more aggressive at pro-Palestine demonstrations in Ōtautahi.
In videos captured from the event, widely circulated on social media platforms and seen by The Spinoff, police officers can be seen shoving protesters, dragging them across the ground, and spraying pepper spray into their eyes. Photographs show protesters, including Minto, dousing their eyes with water and recovering on the footpath with supporters in the aftermath.
Minto, chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, said the event in question was a flag-waving demonstration to protest the Lyttelton port providing port facilities to ZIM shipping. One of the largest shipping companies in the world, Israeli-owned ZIM has attracted protests around the world ever since chief executive Eli Glickman announced it would be supporting Israel’s attacks.
“In other words, they are allowing Israel to continue its killings in Gaza,” said Minto, speaking to The Spinoff as the Gaza death toll surpassed 28,000. “So we’re saying that this is a company which is actively engaged in genocide, and the port companies should take action.” Minto was one of four men arrested and charged with obstructing and resisting police at the event.
Another attendee at the event, Lukas, who requested his last name not be used, recalled a “nice atmosphere” with “people of all ages” when the flag-waving began. “There was definitely a feeling of general support.”
Things escalated when a smaller group of protesters spread across the road to block traffic, and the police presence increased suddenly and aggressively, said Lukas. “They came and dragged people off the road, some of them pretty violently,” said Lukas. “I saw one person who was grabbed by the throat and pulled backwards.” Minto said those who blocked the road would have been expecting arrests for their civil disobedience, but not the violence that came with it.
“They were very violently shoved, pushed; [they] bashed people off the road,” he said. “They used violence against people who were civil disobedience protesters.” Lukas, who was standing on the opposite side of the road to where the altercation took place, said he had never witnessed that level of police violence in real life before. “It felt quite scary,” he recalled. “Seeing these people that were way older than me getting grabbed by the cops like that was just crazy.”
Minto himself was not involved in the blockade, but was filming from the footpath when he was pepper sprayed by a male police officer. “There was no justification for it at all,” he said. “He was throwing his weight around and then in this gratuitous, nasty, needless way, he sprayed me with pepper spray.”
In November last year, police also used pepper spray at a similar protest at Port of Auckland, where a ZIM ship was docked. Minto, 71, said in all his decades of protest and activism, he hadn’t witnessed pepper spray being used in Aotearoa before.
“A lot of people will just hear ‘John Minto got arrested and got pepper sprayed’ and couldn’t give a toss,” he says. “But this is a serious issue of human rights. No one should go to a demonstration and have to experience being pepper sprayed for no reason.” He has since lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority, seen by The Spinoff, calling for an inquiry into the incident and wider police use of pepper spray at public demonstrations.
Acting superintendent Craig McKay said that while police respected the right to protest, “we draw a line when the safety of those involved, the public and our staff are put at risk and thoroughfares are obstructed.” He added that “after a handful of people failed to comply with police requests to move and following a number of warnings, staff utilised tactical options available to us.” Four men were charged with obstructing a public place, resisting police and assaulting police.
This incident has occurred against the backdrop of a reported increased number of police at protests, which Minto said had “definitely” ramped up in Christchurch since protesters called for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the National Party retreat in January, during which one protester was arrested, and later released without charge. Rawaa Elhanafy, a Palestinian-born New Zealander and frequent speaker at the rallies, has also noticed a stronger police presence and increased tension at the Saturday afternoon events in the city.
“Police have absolutely been more aggressive recently,” she said. “Just last week at the peaceful protests at the Bridge of Remembrance, there was more than 10 police men and women for absolutely nothing.” Lukas had also noted a sense of escalation. “I’ve been to more disruptive protests before where people have been blocking a train track. There were arrests, but the police were still not aggressive. There was still a sense that they knew our rights.”
Minto said he was undeterred by the incident, or the increased police presence at Palestine demonstrations in Christchurch. “The single most effective way to take action is always to work with other people,” he said. “It’s also great to see there’s so many young people taking the lead – they’re showing up, they’re leading demonstrations, they’re speaking. For people like myself, if I can impart a little bit of knowledge onto them, then I’m really pleased to do it.”
As for Lukas, it hasn’t been enough to put him off either. “I’ll keep going to the protests,” he said. “But now I feel like I need to look up my rights in case things get gnarly.”