By 1news.co.nz and is republished with permission.
The anti-Covid-19 vaccine mandate protests outside Parliament are entering a fourth day on Friday, with police preparing for demonstrations to continue through the weekend.
All protesters at Parliament were trespassed on Thursday but they didn’t all leave with some camping overnight and remaining on site on Friday.
Tents were still pitched on the lawn outside Parliament on Friday morning. There appears to be new barriers in place between the protesters and Parliament’s forecourt.
While many people are protesting peacefully, tensions escalated into aggression and got physical on Thursday.
Police arrested at least 120 people on Thursday and used pepper spray twice.
On Thursday two police officers were injured during the protest and 150 extra police were brought in on top of the 900 officers in Wellington.
It comes after more than 100 of the protesters were arrested the day before. (Source: Breakfast)
Several hundred parking tickets were issued on Thursday as protesters’ vehicles are blocking roads surrounding Parliament.
This has also caused a negative impact for businesses in Wellington, with customers too afraid to come into town because of the protest.
READ MORE: ‘Unprecedented’ for NZ – police respond to Parliament protest
Protesters are wanting to get their message across to politicians, but most have gone home as Parliament has finished sitting for the week.
Police have been there overnight monitoring the situation.
There is also protest activity outside Wellington, including Picton and Christchurch.