Billy TK, Eastwood get guilty verdicts
Conspiracy theorists Billy Te Kahika Jr and Vinny Eastwood have been found guilty of organising an illegal protest during a Covid-19 alert level 4.
They were charged with intentionally failing to comply with the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act. The protest took place in central Auckland on the first day of a lockdown on August 18 last year. The pair were arrested at the protest and denied the charges at a judge-alone trial before Judge Peter Winter at the Auckland District Court in August this year.
Yesterday, Judge Winter found the pair guilty of both charges.
The verdict was met with scoffs from supporters in the gallery. ‘‘You should be ashamed of yourself,’’ one called out as he left the courtroom.
At trial, Te Kahika said he told police about his intention to organise a protest for 200 to 300 people.
He said he wanted police to be present to prevent disorderly behaviour. Judge Winter disagreed: ‘‘In fact, it would seem that part of their protest action was to deliberately shun that form of protection as an act of defiance and protest.’’
A senior police officer, whose name is suppressed, told the court Te Kahika was advised against proceeding with the protest, to which Te Kahika said he had the right under the Bill of Rights Act. He claimed the officer promised a ‘‘graduated approach to arrest’’ – as long as he shut down the protest if it got too big.
Judge Winter said the defendants knew they would be intentionally failing to comply with the lockdown order. ‘‘They had, by their own admission, intended to breach the order and did so, even after they had been warned against that course of action.’’ He found the Covid-19 legislation overrode Te Kahika’s rights under the Bill of Rights. The legislation was there ‘‘for the protection of all New Zealanders’’ at a time when the reemergence of the virus posed a ‘‘significant threat’’ to Kiwis.
Te Kahika earlier said he believed he was allowed to protest during lockdown conditions, given thousands attended Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020.
The country was under Covid-19 alert level 2 restrictions at that time, meaning gatherings of more than 100 people were not allowed. The organisers of the protests were not charged. The judge found this to be irrelevant.
Judge Winter found Eastwood was dedicated to protesting because he considered the lockdown to be ‘‘yet another incident of government overreach and misuse of power’’.
The pair will be sentenced in March.