Mike Butler: Sit-in ended but mandate anger seethes

March 2 was the day that hundreds of helmeted police with shields pushed, bashed, pepper sprayed, hosed, fired sponge bullets, and marched over, a thousand or so citizens camped in front of New Zealand’s Parliament building. That was on the 23rd day of a protest against forced vaccinations.

Police kicked off the carnage on Monday night by removing (and smashing) a new shower block on a trailer. Police went on to seize cars and destroy tents, leaving a swathe of rubbish in front of Parliament. Protesters did not trash their possessions.

A riot is a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd. There was no violent disturbance by the crowd of protesters before the police descended in riot gear. The Police brought the riot. I’ve seen footage of protesters with their backs to police as they were being pushed out of the area. It was only later, after hours of harassment, that a bonfire was lit and pavers were thrown.

Frank Newman: Message to Jacinda Ardern – Resign

This has been a big day for the protesters in Wellington, for two things that have occurred away from the Freedom Village.

First, the government has announced, "All school students would now be able to participate in school activities despite if they were vaccinated or not and gathering limits would no longer apply when unvaccinated students were participating."

In other words, mandates for kids have been dropped. Clearly, the government did not say it that simply because they did not want to be seen to be backing down to the protesters, but that's exactly what they have done.