Parliament occupation leaders blame ‘plants’ for escalating violence

[ad_1]

Wellington occupation leaders are distancing themselves from violence, claiming outsiders or “plants” unknown to protesters were responsible.

Tuesday – the 15th day of the anti-mandate occupation – was its most violent. In an early morning clash, a car drove at the police line and three officers were taken to hospital after an unknown substance was allegedly thrown at their faces.

Occupation leaders struggled to control the situation, with protesters split over how they should respond to police.

A police statement on Tuesday night said “genuine” protesters were “no longer in control of the behavior in and around Parliament”.

READ MORE:* Parliament occupation, Day 15: Two arrests after clash with police reportedly injures three officers* Police mum on tactical options as Parliamentary occupation grows more aggressive* Watch: The car and the clashes – morning of volatility and arrests on the streets around Parliament

MONIQUE FORD/Stuff

Leaders of the occupation at Parliament are trying to cast doubt on a video of a car driving towards a line of police.

At the scene where a car drove through a police line, a woman yelled at police. “Have you forgotten your oath?” She then launched into a tirade about a global paedophile ring.

Another woman intervened, grabbing her shoulder, as they faced off against police during the early-morning operation. “Hey, it’s not about pedophiles,” she said, firmly. “This is about Covid.”

End the Mandates NZ, an alliance of several anti-mandate groups at the occupation, said the groups were “unanimous in our commitment to maintaining a peaceful protest that does not support any violence”.

MONIQUE FORD/Stuff

Protest leaders struggle to believe that their side could be violent, at the same time as acknowledging there are “fringes” they dislike.

They described the perpetrators of Tuesday’s violence as “unknown” to protesters.

“We know there are agitators in the crowd who are planted,” said Alan Simmons, co-leader of the Outdoor and Freedom Movement, a vocal contingent within the anti-mandate protest and one of the groups that forms End the Mandates NZ.

“I don’t believe the violence is from this side,” Simmons said. He appeared in a video of the Tuesday morning confrontation with police, yelling “this is warfare now” and telling others to “throw [the police’s] bloody hats off”, but said the comments were made in the heat of the moment.

Former New Conservatives leader Leighton Baker, who has been a prominent figure in support of the protest but said he was not a leader, said violence towards police was “not acceptable”. He did not believe protesters were responsible.

MONIQUE FORD/Stuff

Protesters are anti-mandate, but some disagree with conspiracy thinking.

The protesters as a group were “very peaceful”, Baker said. “Some people come to cause a ruckus, but they’re not part of it.”

Crime and justice expert Jarrod Gilbert said some protesters had violent motivations from the start.

“There were people from day one who were promoting and inciting violence, calling for a violent insurrection. You just need to look at their cupboards and listen to their speeches to know that.”

Chantelle Baker, Leighton Baker’s daughter and a prominent social media influence at the protest, attempted to cast doubt on the video of the car in her Tuesday morning livestream. The alleged offender appeared in court on Wednesday, and was given name suppression.

“You don’t know if a person could have been planted there – I’m not saying that’s what happened, but it seemed very odd.” She went on to describe the car as “very interesting”, “weird” and “weird”.

On the ground, protesters widely believed the car was a “set up” and there were “agent provocateurs” within the movement.

Doubt was also cast on police reports of officers being sprayed with a “stinging substance”. Videos on social media purported showing police being affected by their own pepper spray use.

In a statement, a police spokesperson reiterated a substance was thrown at police by protesters. The nature of the substance was still being investigated, they said.

Iain McGregor/Stuff

Jarrod Gilbert says violence has been a part of the protest from day one.

Gilbert said the theory about a “plant” was further evidence of the disinformation the protest was based on.

“This is why negotiating with the protesters has been difficult, because they’re coming from a foundation of demonstrably false beliefs. They’ll believe really ridiculous things.

“This shows how this worldwide network of disinformation works. As soon as new evidence is against you, you invent something new.”

Rebekah Parsons-King/RNZ

Marc Wilson, a Professor of Psychology at Victoria University, says that when protesters are invested in believing that their own motivations are pure.

Marc Wilson, a professor of psychology at Victoria University, said it would be difficult to change the protesters’ belief in disinformation.

“We have a psychological investment in believing that our own motivations and intellect are pure. When that is challenged we don’t throw down our cupboards and head off home, but rather we entrench and invest even more energy in changing the world to fit into how we think,” Wilson said.

[ad_2]