Extinction Rebellion protest gets heated amid shoulder-charging allegation in Nelson

Thursday, 11 March 2021

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.

A protest outside Civic House turned heated when a city councillor allegedly “shoulder-charged” a woman who had chained herself to the door.

Nelson City Councillor Tim Skinner claimed he was simply trying to get access to the building, but a witness described a “quite nasty” shove of an elderly member of an Extinction Rebellion protest which blocked access to Nelson City Council on Thursday morning.

Skinner arrived at Civic House close to 9am, when the council was scheduled to have a meeting.

However, city councillors had been warned an hour before the meeting not to go to the council buildings and not to engage with protesters.

* 15 arrested as climate activists block Canterbury coal mine over planned expansion

Extinction Rebellion Whakatū protesters Yasmeen Jones-Chollet, left and a fellow protester with Nelson City Councillor Tim Skinner.

* Extinction Rebellion protestors chain themselves to fertiliser depot's gate

A Stuff visual journalist witnessed the alleged assault, describing it as a “shoulder charge”.

He said Skinner approached a set of side-doors which the protester was chained to, one which requires a key-card to access, and “deliberately” pushed the woman, before making apologies and saying he had not seen her.

Extinction Rebellion member Jynette Parker, who was at the protest, described the incident as “aggressive pushing”.

“A member of the Nelson council pushed one of our elderly protesters,” she said.

“It was quite nasty, actually. We have been to the police about it … She was very shaken up, if she hadn't been tied on [to the doors] she would have been hurt, he would have pushed her onto the ground.”

Police arrested four Extinction Rebellion Whakatū protesters, after using bolt cutters to remove them from doorways.

Parker said the woman was “shaky and quite upset” after the alleged incident. The woman did not want to speak about the incident as she did not want to detract from the message of the protest.

Skinner denied he had pushed the woman.

He said he had gone to pull on the handle of the door and noticed the woman leaned forward and made a noise, at which point he realised that she was chained to the door.

“I said, sorry lady, I didn’t realise you were attached to the door.

“I have no problem with people making a protest, but I was trying to get to a meeting,” Skinner said.

Nelson police area commander Detective Inspector Paul Borrell said police were aware of an incident, but to date had not received an official complaint.

Parker said despite the alleged assault, the Extinction Rebellion group considered the protest a success.

“We were thrilled to pieces [with the protest], we had very favourable comments from passers-by, it went very well,” she said.

The group were protesting against the council’s use of glyphosate, a controversial weed-killer. Parker said four protesters were arrested and released with cautions and trespass notices.

“We certainly got our point across.”

Nelson City Council spokeswoman Kim Grade said council could not comment on the incident, as it was a police matter.