June 03, 2020
BLM protest blows away Level 2 support
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says the weekend protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement confirms its time to shift COVID-19 restrictions to level 1.
Thousands of people rallied and marched in Auckland and Wellington on Monday in response to the killing by Minneapolis police of George Floyd.
Many of the speakers drew parallels with what they called systemic racism in the New Zealand police and warned against the increased use of armed police here.
Mr Peters says while supporting peaceful protest, it was clear people were not observing level 2 distancing rules.
"The fact is they decided to go into a circumstance of a protest and didn't give a darn whether the rules of isolation were kept. So if that's the case, let's make sure we don't have an uncertain sound sent to the community. Make up our mind to go to Level 1 now," he says.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she will bring forward consideration of moving to Level 1 to next week’s cabinet.
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