A parent says her daughter was horrified at what she witnessed when a children’s Pride event get disrupted by a Destiny Church-linked protest at the weekend.
Destiny Church’s Man Up and Legacy groups stormed the Te Atatū Community Centre and library to protest a children’s science show hosted by a drag artist on Saturday.
Around 30 young children and adults were barricaded inside during the incident.
Hollie Colegate’s daughter Evie, who had been at the centre all day for a dodgeball tournament, was in the lobby during a break between games when a “large group of very big, threatening guys came into the library”.
A mother has spoken to 1News of her daughter’s horror at seeing her dodgeball teammate’s “shoved, pushed and punched” at the Te Atatū Community Centre on Saturday. (Source: 1News)
“She watched this great big group of big men come in, start pushing the library staff around to try and get their way up the stairs, and then some of the young people who were involved in the tournament got caught up in it and got pushed to the ground and punched,” she told 1News.
“They were all quite taken aback by what they saw.”
Colegate said she was “so grateful” for the dodgeball tournament organisers, adding that they were “really good about the way they managed the youngsters and got them safe and talked to them about what happened”.
The teenager was asked by the tournament organisers to go back inside the hall to care for some of the younger children.
She said her daughter was “just horrified” to see her teammates, library staff, and people enjoying a “good, fun family event … being attacked for what she saw as no reason”.
“Her words were, ‘I’m with the people who didn’t show violence and hate, Mum’.”
Colegate said she didn’t think the Destiny Church protesters “should be allowed to come in gangs like that into people’s little community centres”.
“We were all quite offended as well because there was a haka at the end of it, which sat really badly with most of us that they were using that in a gender diversity debate, hate debate. It felt wrong.
“I don’t think they should be allowed to gather in groups like that. They shouldn’t be able to gather under a Christian banner.”
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki posted on Facebook that was “proud of my people who are out in the community today, making a stand against the Woke Agenda plaguing our city”.
However, Colegate said there was “no preaching about gender diversity – it was just fun and just a nice event for the community”.
“It seems a real shame.”
Police investigating alleged assaults
Police “strongly condemned” the protest last night and confirmed allegations of assault were under investigation.
Inspector Simon Walker said the group’s actions at the Te Atatū Community Centre and library caused “considerable distress and concern” among children, library staff and visitors.
“This protest crossed a line. Freedom of speech and the right to protest are fundamental principles of a free and democratic society under the rule of law, but nobody, especially children, should ever be made to feel unsafe.”
‘Not the Kiwi way’ — Luxon
Protesters stormed a drag king event in Te Atatū and halted the Auckland Rainbow Parade for 10 minutes yesterday. (Source: 1News)
At a post-Cabinet press conference today, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the protest “crossed the line” and “was not the Kiwi way”.
“When you’re intimidating public officials and public facilities. that’s not the way that we expect things to be in this country, we expect people to have free speech. We expect them to protest peacefully, but also respectfully, and we certainly value the diversity that exists here in New Zealand.”
Asked whether Destiny Church should have its charitable status revoked, Luxon said there was a “broader question at play”.
“We said that we would look at in due course the registration of charities and their charitable status, and therefore their tax treatment as a consequence, and it will form part of that piece of work.”
