Protester has flashbacks after encounter with Nelson City councillor

Thursday, 8 April 2021

Nelson City Council CCTV video of an incident involving Nelson City Councillor Tim Skinner and protester Anne Smith outside Civic House.

Protester Anne Smith says she has to take medication to sleep since an encounter in March with Nelson City councillor Tim Skinner.

The 72-year-old great-grandmother was locked to a side door at Civic House in Nelson on March 11 during an Extinction Rebellion protest against the council’s use of the weed-killer glyphosate when Skinner arrived.

“I am a strong, independent woman,” Smith said. “However, his demeanour as he turned the corner to the vestibule – angry-looking, shouting and towering over me – was to the point I didn't even recognise him. These actions have resulted in me having flashbacks to the domestic violence incidents of my early 20s – sleepless nights filled with thoughts of a dark place I thought I would never have to return to.”

Smith said as Skinner came to the door, he “rushed at me, lowered his shoulder and pushed me with force”.

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Councillor Tim Skinner said at the time of the incident that he was simply trying to access Civic House and did not realise the protester was chained to the door.

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Nelson police with Extinction Rebellion Whakatu protestors and Nelson City Councillor Tim Skinner outside the Nelson City Council during a protest over the council's use of Glyphosate.

“All this is evident on [footage from] the NCC video camera above the door,” Smith said. “I have seen the video.”

After a request from Stuff, the city council on Thursday released the footage showing the incident.

“Following multiple requests for the CCTV footage … and given the substantial public interest in events of that day, Nelson City Council has today decided to release the footage,” the council said in a statement.

Smith said she believed that if she had not been locked to the door, she would have been knocked onto the tiles.

Along with a sore shoulder and a stiff neck, Smith said she “needed to return to the use of medication to allow me to sleep”.

Since the incident, Smith said she felt nauseous when she left her home and needed to “talk to myself strongly to resist returning before doing what I came out for”.

Extinction Rebellion protester Anne Smith, centre locked to the door, with fellow protester Yasmeen Jones-Chollet, left, and Nelson City councillor Tim Skinner just after her encounter with the elected member.

“I want to go home now,” Smith said on Tuesday during an interview with Stuff.

Skinner said he had seen the video.

“I gave her a bit more of a push than I realised,” he said. “My intent was never to cause any issues, it was to get through the door.”

Skinner said when he saw the footage, he thought “that wasn’t of a high enough standard and I do regret … trying to manoeuvre her away from the door”.

“But there was no intent to cause any harm or grief.”

Skinner said he denied he was shouting or standing over Smith. Nor was there a shoulder charge, as one witness had claimed, he said.

Smith said she believed it could have appeared to be a shoulder charge from the position the witness was standing.

Skinner said he was happy to meet with Smith and other members of Extinction Rebellion.

There was no intent to cause “grief and so forth” for the organisation.

“I was trying to get to work,” Skinner said. “I apologise, I should have waited until police sorted it … rather than me trying to get into the building.”

Nelson mayor Rachel Reese says she will be initiating a code of conduct complaint over Skinner’s behaviour.

He said he did not realise Smith was locked to the door.

“I’m always looking out for the wellbeing of the community,” he said. “I’ve let myself down and I’ve let the council down. I wasn’t happy that I wasn’t able to get in … and I apologise, I shouldn’t have … tried to manoeuvre her or push her to the side.”

A police investigation followed the incident, which resulted in Skinner being issued “a written formal warning in respect of an alleged assault”.

After that decision by police, Skinner said he was “glad common sense has prevailed” and no charges were laid.

Smith said she was treated well by police who explained the significance of a written formal warning. In response to questions from Stuff about what it meant, police issued a short statement saying a formal warning can be issued from the street or at a police station for a “qualifying offence that meets evidential sufficiency and public interest requirements set out in the Solicitor-General’s Prosecution Guidelines”.

Those guidelines call “the evidence which can be adduced in Court is sufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction” the evidential test.

Smith said that as of Tuesday afternoon, she had not heard directly from Skinner or Nelson mayor Rachel Reese since the incident.

While she had read in the paper that Reese had issued a public apology, Smith said she had not yet been contracted in person by the mayor.

“Now that the police investigation has concluded, I intend to extend an invitation to meet with the woman who made this complaint … I publicly apologise to her that she has been involved in a distressing interaction with an elected member of Nelson City Council,” Reese had said.

The mayor also said she would be initiating a code of conduct complaint over Skinner’s behaviour.