Brian Tamaki: Ryan Bridge quotes Bible, quizzes Christian leader on faith after guns seized in raid

Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki admits he has not been threatened by any Hindu people after police confiscated his weapons and temporarily suspended his gun licence over violent anti-immigration remarks.

This morning, the Christian leader also claimed he didn’t mean what he said when he called for mosques and temples to be burned down, vowing to fight the suspension of his licence.

Appearing on Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge TODAY, the Destiny Church founder was grilled over public comments calling for a “purge” of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims from New Zealand, which officials have warned could be viewed as incitement to violence.

It followed a podcast appearance in which Tamaki said he would use a shotgun to protect his family.

Tamaki said if churches were being burned down in India, “why don’t we burn mosques and their temples down? Tit for tat”.

“That sounds insane,” Bridge told Tamaki, who responded “I’m not a violent person, didn’t mean that, but that’s comparative.”

He claimed he had made the statements to expose issues with border control and “the weakness of our politicians”.

Asked what he meant by “purge”, Tamaki said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had used the same word, adding “the best way to get rid of them is to get our borders right”.

Tamaki acknowledged he had not been threatened by any Hindu people and no churches had been burned down in New Zealand.

“So ... why are you threatening people?” Bridge asked. “Why are you not out there loving your neighbour?

“The only person here is the good Christian man making the threats.”

“Well, that’s passionate free speech, isn’t it? It’s not hate speech,” Tamaki responded, before saying: “I love all of them.”

He claimed he had Indian congregation members who were “appalled” by New Zealand’s immigration law.

Tamaki said six firearms had been confiscated yesterday, but police had allowed him to retain one firearm that was an “artefact”.

He would “absolutely” fight the suspension of his licence, he said.

Police have not commented on the specifics of Tamaki’s case but said they had temporarily suspended a person’s firearms licence until the regulator could confirm if he was “fit and proper” to hold the licence.

It follows a social media post from Tamaki in June where he accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of violence against Indian Christians.

Act MP Parmjeet Parmar told Ryan Bridge TODAY while she agreed freedom of speech was important for everybody, talking about burning down mosques and temples was “dangerous, divisive and undermines peacefulness of a nation”.

She said she felt she had “sufficient ground to warrant an assessment” before writing to police about Tamaki.

“It’s up to them [police] now. No one should be above the law.”

Tamaki filmed a Facebook livestream yesterday as police confiscated several large weapons from his home. He told the camera he would never burn down mosques or temples “and neither would I do anything dangerous”.

He has told the Herald he was speaking figuratively on a recent podcast when he referenced using a shotgun to protect his family from immigrants.

Last week, Act MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar said she wrote to the Police Commissioner asking police to investigate whether Tamaki’s comments had broken the law.

She shared a response online from Assistant Commissioner Tim Anderson, dated June 25, confirming the matter was being investigated.

Meanwhile, Hannah Tamaki has vowed her husband will keep hunting despite police revoking his gun licence.

“We will go hunting with other people that have firearm licences,” she said in a video shared to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon.

“So don’t think it’s going to hinder Brian from being a hunter and a gatherer; he totally will continue to do that because he’s good at it.”