Efforts to disperse, by playing haunting songs on a loop, anti-vaccine protesters who have been camping for a week on the lawns of the New Zealand Parliament are not to the taste of the police caught in the crossfire.
On Sunday February 13, on a decision by Parliament, the authorities used automatic sprinklers and tried to stun the demonstrators by loudly broadcasting infernal music, in particular Baby Shark, Macarena and mandy from Manilow.
But the hundreds of protesters inspired by the self-proclaimed “convoys of freedom” Canadians, danced in the mud to the tunes supposed to force them to disperse, and fought back with their favorite hits. Superintendent Corrie Parnell, Wellington’s police chief, did not appreciate this facetious tactic by Parliament, which seems to have strengthened the resolve of the demonstrators.
“These are certainly not tactics or methodologies that we would endorse, and we would have preferred that not to have happened.“, he told Radio New Zealand, again urging protesters to move the vehicles still blocking the streets. “It is not a question (…) of arresting people to get out (of this situation)”he said, however, calling on the organizers to negotiate.
Police have taken a non-violent approach since an attempt to clear lawns by force on Thursday, which led to brutal clashes and more than 120 arrests, but only hardened the resolve of protesters.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declined to comment on Sunday’s musical jousting, but opposition figures did not hesitate, lavishly blaming Speaker of Parliament Trevor Mallard for approving the measure.
“Mallard’s actions are inglorious, embarrassing and ineffective”tweeted parliamentarian Chris Bishop, of the National Party. “Not only are Mallard’s antics immature, not only are they ineffective, but they have made a serious situation much worse”said David Seymour, leader of the opposition ACT party. “His petty behavior only encouraged the protesters”he still asserted.