A Christian fundamentalist group has clashed with police after it protested a rainbow Pride parade while performing a haka.
Members of Brian Tamaki’s Destiny Church held up the parade in central Auckland on Saturday, wearing T-shirts with the words ‘Man Up’ written across them.
The group stood in front of police officers, who were walking ahead of the parade, as members of the public attending tried to drown out the church members by cheering.
The protesters danced and gloated away, smiling and waving at an unimpressed crowd who told them to leave.
Mr Tamaki took to social media platform X to praise his followers.
‘Our radical young people have had enough! Our Man Up men have had enough! Destiny Church has had enough,’ he posted.
‘The debauchery in the Rainbow Parade has gone on for too long! Auckland has long been overrun with this woke, rainbow agenda.
‘And no surprise, the boys in blue were there again… protecting their beloved rainbows.’
Mr Tamaki claimed it was ‘only the beginning’ and, In a reference to Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan, added: ‘Let’s Make NZ Great Again!’
Auckland Pride, organisers of the parade, described the incident as ‘deeply hurtful’ but insisted their supported remained ‘resilient in the face of hate and violence’.
‘While today has been a painful reminder of imported ideologies and the violence they bring, we remain confident in our community’s resilience,’ the statement added.
Auckland’s Mayor Wayne Brown criticised the protesters after an earlier violent disruption at a children’s event featuring a drag king.
‘The actions of Destiny Church today are totally unacceptable,’ Brown said.
‘While I respect freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest, to enter a council library facility that is there for all our communities to use and intimidate council staff, volunteers and community members going about their business, is completely out of line.
‘There is absolutely no place for thuggery. The kind of behaviour that was on display today is disgraceful and unacceptable.’
Earlier, that day, violence erupted at a library drag event when members of Destiny Church groups stormed a community centre to protest a children’s show.
The melee, involving the church’s Man Up and Legacy groups, happened at Te Atatū Community Centre and saw protesters allegedly punching, pushing and shoving their way inside.
Event organiser Auckland Pride said the event was open to all ages, describing it as a ‘musical, magical adventure exploring the science of the skies’.
A group of around 30, including toddlers, young children and adults, had to be barricaded inside, RZ reported.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick condemned the acts as ‘sad’ and ‘disappointing’ and said those targeted were ‘incredibly shaken up, and I think that’s the intention of this intimidation and violence’.
Tamaki posted on social media: ‘Proud of my people who are out in the community today, making a stand against the woke agenda plaguing our city.
‘Our West Auckland team are outside the council library in Te Atatū today protesting yet another drag king, Hugo, who is attempting to seduce more kids into their queer lifestyle through their storytime events.’
Tamaki said Man Up was forced to take action with the government refusing to ‘address the excessive spending on borderline pornography and perversion targeting our innocent Kiwi kids’.
He later posted: ‘Let’s Make NZ Straight Again! I’m not kidding! Time to clean this country up, so it can once again live up to the clean reputation we were once known for. Pure New Zealand’.
Destiny Church was founded in 1998 by Mr Tamaki and his wife Hannah.
At its peak in 2003 it had 5,000 members but the number had dwindled to just under 2,000 in the 2018 New Zealand census.