Ihumātao: Police deny carrying firearms at protest after Facebook video outcry

Sunday, 4 August 2019

Police deny the firearm is being officially 'carried' by the officer - but being transferred from one location to another

Police say there has been no wrong doing after a video surfaced on social media of an officer carrying a firearm metres from protesters at Ihumātao.

Student Jamie Morgan was at the long-running South Auckland protest on Saturday afternoon. He told Stuff he and some friends were there making a documentary on Ihumātao, when they noticed the officer carrying a rifle on Ihumātao Quarry Road.

Morgan is documenting the group which is occupying the land near the protected Ōtuataua Stonefields in Māngere, to protest against a housing development planned by Fletcher Building.

Officer spotted 'carrying' firearm at Ihumātao

The land, which was confiscated by the Crown in the 1860s, is wāhi tapu or sacred to Māori.

* Stan Walker urges crowds to 'dream bigger' at Ihumātao

* History and housing clash at Ihumātao**

Morgan filmed a male officer carrying a gun and placing it in the boot of a police car. He then posted the video on Facebook on Saturday.

The incident happened just hours after Kiingi Tūheitia left the protest site

Police were made aware of the video on Sunday, initially telling Stuff they believed the post was fake. The police later confirmed that officers removed firearms from two vehicles behind a cordon, which separates the police from protesters, some fifteen metres from the protest site.

'We have armed response capability available in the event of an emergency but the staff are not carrying firearms on their person.'

Morgan said they were sitting around a campfire chatting when one of his friends from the other side of the circle said they thought they saw an officer carrying a rifle.

He pulled out the camera and shot a video of an officer walking between two cars carrying a firearm.

'It was quite upsetting really, this is not on. Everywhere you look there's children running around, people having kōrero and kai - and there are weapons of war on the doorstep.'

Morgan said they were shocked it happened so soon after Kiingi Tūheitia had left the protest site, after visiting that morning to talk about finding a solution.

The video and a photo, posted on Morgan's Facebook page, had received more than 300 shares and nine thousand views on Sunday afternoon.

Many people posted on Facebook that they were angry that the police had firearms near the site, even if they weren't carrying them.