The Freedoms & Rights Coalition
Below is a social media post from The Freedoms & Rights Coalition relating to false claims by media that Freedom organisers did not correspond with the NZ Police.
Big Thanks to the NZ Police and Sergeant Joshua Connolly (Operations Planner for Tamaki Makaurau) for facilitating our safe hikoi around inner city Auckland yesterday!
Sergeant Connolly sent us several lovely emails last week, and he was super helpful. We quote him, “Just checking in on how your team is getting on with your traffic management plan? and if there is anything we can assist with?”
And an even earlier email…
” this information will assist Police in ensuring the event is safe and enjoyable for those attending…”
Sergeant Connolly was so easy to work with. He sent us a final email on Friday morning at 6.38 am thanking us for supplying the contact details for our personnel in charge of traffic management.
The NZ Police were also helpful in letting us know which field to best set ourselves up on at the Auckland Domain, so we stayed clear of any sports.
The NZ Police again thanked us on Friday via text for having supplied a full map of our walking route on and off the motorway. We allowed the police ample time to organize themselves and Auckland Transport, which they seemed to appreciate. NZ Police were such a joy to work with, that they didn’t even raise any fears about our walking route. In the past, they have suggested alternative routes. In fact, this time, we didn’t hear anything further from the police until 10 minutes before our event started when Sergeant Connolly sent his police buddies along to walk with us, and work with us.
To all of the friendly Policemen and women who helped us block busy roads so our crowd could pass safely by, and who chatted to us, and smiled and waved at our families as we marched past…Thank you!
To the two lovely Policemen who drove the escort vehicle at the front of our hikoi as we headed onto the motorway…a special big Thank You to both of you! Our crowd wouldn’t have known which way to walk to get onto the motorway if you weren’t kindly showing us which way to go.
Thank you NZ Police for doing a stellar job at facilitating our Right to Protest.
Lastly, one final shout-out to the Mainstream Media, particularly Ashleigh and her cameraman from NewsHub, who were the trailblazers who ran ahead of our crowd, and were the first onto the motorway, also paving the way for the crowd to know which road to travel. Many of us were duly impressed with Ashleigh’s ability to run in those heels as she tore past the masses like a gazelle. But we don’t blame her for wanting to be first onto the motorway…it wasn’t a competition, but hey, it was all rather exciting to be a part of.
Thank you everyone for making the day “safe and enjoyable for those attending…”
Until next time…