You're right I am actually surprised at that. I guess what I shouldn't be shocked at is how the media as a rule would quash all mention of it.
And again you're right, I was a salty asshole and I apologise for that.
Out of curiosity, when did the protests happen if you don't mind me asking? Feel free to tell me to take a flying fuck at a rolling donut and all, it'd be deserved but it seems like there was a real effort to memory hole it.
The ones in the UK were interesting. There was one especially large march in London in early 2021 where a "broken down" bus was parked askew in a road with the idea clearly being that protestors would see it and trash it. It was genuinely heart warming to see scores and scores of people walk around it without batting an eyelid.
The camp started off peaceful with mandates as full focus, but I don't think anyone had any idea how successful it would be. It was inspired directly by the protests in Canada. The Facebook group had tens of thousands of people in it, a good percentage attended the protest (a decent number vaccinated themselves but still pushing for choice), and the group was removed eventually along with all of the footage and lives people recorded of what it was actually like at the camp along with aggressive measures taken against them. There were also marches, vehicle convoys and camps in other places across NZ in solidarity.
People stayed there nearly three weeks, and it was awesome. They had haircuts for people who weren't allowed in salons due to vaccine pass restrictions, food made by others for others, heartwarming support for each other. Everyone cleaned up after themselves and bad behaviour was condemned as soon as it occurred. Many people at the protest had lost their jobs due to mandates and they were there to get acknowledgement, answers, and change from who caused that. Some had lost family and friends from the vaccines. Others were there to vent about the impact of lockdowns and express their anger at how our government has handled criticism and passed laws on the sly. The protestors brought their children in some cases because it was safe at this time. Police were present but interacted positively with protestors, accepting flowers and gifts from children and engaging in conversation here and there. No hostility.
The government itself quickly used noise 24/7 on large speakers at Parliament grounds to keep people awake and on edge. They used sprinklers. Police attitude shifted to hostility and they stopped engaging with protestors. Police barricades were moved and placed at strange times with uneven intervals so nobody could settle or get a night's sleep. They did this knowing children were there.
Local council soon locked nearby public toilets so protestors couldn't use them, portaloo companies were pressured to not deal with the protest organisers, and when that didn't work they just blocked access to the roads where the portaloos were. Protestors made their own portaloo setup to combat this which police then removed. They also removed showers and other hygiene stations. Media went out of their way to describe the camp as dirty in lockstep with these actions; they reported an event of someone throwing poo at someone which was never substantiated and referenced frequently.
Parliament told protestors indirectly after a few days that they had made their point and to go home but no meaningful discourse was ever launched. Not once in three weeks did anyone leave their office to speak with them. In fact, they
all signed a fucking pact to not communicate with them whatsoever. One politician posted a picture from within his office in the beehive, looking down at the angry people and sneering at them for destroying the grounds. Protestors were told they wouldn't get a word unless they all went home which is not how protests work. Brian Tamaki, a religious party leader and pastor for the unliked Destiny Church, took it upon himself to be the spokesperson for the camp and involve his own agenda. This ramped up resentment and anger.
All I could think is that if the protestors were listened to, if the politicians faced the harm they caused to these people, if they had the balls to leave their ivory tower and listen to who they governed even when the consensus isn't stellar, and assure them there would be change that clearly a great chunk of the population wanted... Maybe the protest would not have ended the way it did, with people getting angrier from not being listened to and more unstable from the psychological torture they inflicted on them. But it couldn't have ended in any other way.
Eventually the police violence ramped up, a fire was started at the fault of police, and then all hell broke loose with police just mowing over everyone to get them to fuck off. People were arrested and trespassed, and the one politician who spoke to them was trespassed too. Their belongings were destroyed, with media and police saying it was "contaminated". Police used tear gas and rubber bullets after dickheads started lobbing bricks at them. It all fell apart. This downward spiral was blamed on protestors for not going home when they were told and the police hailed as heroes for dealing with the dirty and schizophrenic heretics.
The media was fucking brutal. They were disgusting. If you Google any NZ news about this, they absolutely trashed our own people and misrepresented everything wherever they could, and did for months afterwards. Protestors were labelled as domestic terrorists, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, anarchists, health hazards, threats to public order and safety. What was funny, though, is that far more people were watching the lives in the Facebook group than those who were watching media coverage. The news coverage was getting a few hundred views at best while thousands were watching streams from those who were actually there.
I will post some pictures once I'm accepted into the new Facebook group that gave insight into how well the camp was run initially, but in the mean time, here are some that show the sheer numbers and passion of those who marched for what they believed in.
It was an emotional event for many, even for those who couldn't go. Protestors were fucking broken after that event. One of the organisers was arrested on the last day in a display of "fuck you".
I wrote some coverage here.
How it ended
Response from parliament and aftermath
Criticism towards media and government from the only politician who visited the camp (worth watching to see how hard they try to warp things and Winston is not having any of it, he has no patience with journalists)
Statements by Winston on Facebook
one,
two.
I wrote some coverage here.
archive.ph
