GOING MEDIEVAL

Anti-Vaccine Mandate Protesters Wield Literal Pitchforks in Battle With New Zealand Cops

A camp for anti-vaccine mandate demonstrators was forcibly shut down—but not without a fight.

A three-week-long protest against vaccine mandates in New Zealand’s capital city was forcibly shut down Wednesday, but not before the protesters literally wielded pitchforks against police officers. According to The Guardian, hundreds of officers in riot gear tore down the protesters’ camp on Wednesday morning and made 38 arrests. But they were met with a violent resistance—police said that the protesters attacked them with fire extinguishers, crude plywood shields, and pitchforks. The protesters even booby-trapped the camp with a cord set up as a trip wire, according to a statement from police. Speaking at parliament later Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said several police officers were hurt and fires set by the protesters had destroyed a children’s playground. “I was both angry and also deeply saddened to see parliament, your parliament, our parliament desecrated in that way,” said the prime minister.