Controversial anti-trans campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshullhas been escorted away by police from a rally in New Zealand before she could speak after she was met by an angry crowd.
Crowds, mainly consisting of trans-rights supporters, had gathered in Auckland’s Albert Park ahead of Keen-Minshull’s appearance, which came on the back of her highly controversial visit to Australia.
Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is escorted from the Auckland event by police.Credit:Stuff/Chris McKeen
A small fight broke out as Keen-Minshull made her way through the barricade to speak to the crowds. She was escorted out again shortly before 11.30am, as crowds booed at her. She appeared to have been pelted by tomato soup.
A Stuff reporter at Albert Park said from the moment Keen-Minshull entered the barricade, tension between the groups, separated by a ring of barricades, started to boil over.
It took just 3-4 minutes before every side of the barricade had collapsed and counter-protesters had made their way through to surround Keen-Minshull.
No police could be seen inside where the barricades had stood, and less than 10 security guards worked to keep the crowd from overrunning the band rotunda.
It took only a few more minutes before crowds managed to climb over and Keen-Minshull was surrounded on all sides.
A group of four security guards formed a human shield around her for 10 minutes as the crowd slowly pressed forward.
Fights continued to break out in the crowd, as they ripped down the last fence that was protecting Keen-Minshull from behind.
It was then that security made a rush with her through the crowd to get her out of the park.
In a livestream on Keen-Minshull’s YouTube channel, it appeared she was being escorted away from the park in a police car. In the police car, an officer asked if she had any injuries. Keen-Minshull said she just had food in her hair and “just grave fears for this place”.
Keen-Minshull asked the officer if she could be taken to the police station.
“Do you think it’ll be worse in Wellington? Maybe it’s time to say we can’t do it.”
Keen-Minshull, has speaking engagements in Auckland and Wellington as part of her Let Women Speak tour.
Parker’s visit follows a controversial tour in Australia where a contingent of neo-Nazis last Saturday crashed a Melbourne rally that she was addressing. Keen-Minshull denied associating with neo-Nazis and criticised those men who attended and performed the Hitler salute outside Victoria’s state parliament.
At a rally in Canberra on Thursday, Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe was tackled by an Australian Federal Police officer as she tried to confront Keen-Minshull as she spoke before a small gathering outside Parliament House.
Keen-Minshull is scheduled to speak at an event in Wellington on Saturday afternoon although it was unclear if the event would go ahead following the incident in Auckland.
Stuff.co.nz
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