Since the start of the pandemic, the police have pointedly not cracked down on anti-lockdown protests even when they violated the rules. The arrests of a handful of extremists in August were a departure from this, as I wrote at the time. 1/4 newsroom.co.nz/police-face-ca…
The police justification for this departure at the time was that the extent of the outbreak was unknown so gatherings represented a legitimate public health risk. There are questions to be asked about why today's larger event didn't pose that risk, in police's view. 2/4
But the notion that police should always crack down on rulebreakers in this way is misguided. What these extremists want is to generate propaganda material and spark violence. Mass arrests or even targeted arrests of organisers risks doing exactly that. 3/4
Moreover, these people are driven by a sense of victimisation. A crackdown would only exacerbate that, further entrenching them in their extreme positions. As much as it may satisfy us to see them rounded up and jailed, that could lead to more harm than the current approach. 4/4
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
