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The flying wedge is about to punch into the front line of anti-Tour protestors at the corner of Marlborough St and Walters Rd
John MercerSeptember 12, 1981
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira
Auckland, New Zealand
Black and white photograph of a crowd of riot police officers facing a crowd of anti-Springbok tour protesters. The police officers are wearing protective helmets with visors and holding out their batons. Behind them is the Church of Christ, located at 9 Walters Road, Kingsland.
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Details
- Title: The flying wedge is about to punch into the front line of anti-Tour protestors at the corner of Marlborough St and Walters Rd
- Creator: John Mercer
- Creator Lifespan: b. 1949
- Creator Nationality: New Zealander
- Creator Birth Place: New Plymouth, New Zealand
- Date Created: September 12, 1981
- Location: Mount Eden (Auckland, N.Z.)
- Physical Dimensions: 35 mm frame
- Subject Keywords: Eden Park (Auckland, N.Z. : Stadium), Rugby football - Political aspects, New Zealand Police, Protest movements--New Zealand, Protest movements.
- Type: Negative
- Rights: All rights reserved
- External Link: Auckland Museum: Collections Online
- Support: Polyester
- Wikipedia: Auckland Museum on Wikipedia
- Process: Gelatin silver
- Notes: Inscribed on print verso: Proof 7-2. Film 22A;Notes provided by John Mercer June-July 2021: The standoff continues but the police at the centre of this photo are establishing a flying wedge. Other police officers can be seen heading for the formation to add to the numbers. There is going to be trouble… A flying wedge forms within the police cordon and slams into the shields fronting the protest ranks. Batons flail, shields fly up. The flying wedge and advance of the police cordon splinters and collapses the protest group into small groups that are either surrounded by police or rapidly retreating up Marlborough St towards Onslow Rd. The police cordon wades more widely into the protest group in front of me. It appears as if the Red Squad and other police uniforms have been freed of restraints as they beat and pursue and beat members of the protest group seemingly with little discrimination for gender, age or identity. Many of the injuries sustained by anti Tour protestors and Patu squad occurred in the few moments of the flying wedge and the ensuing baton charges up Marlborough St. At photo centre a police officer has a protester by the collar and beyond them protest medical workers can be seen assisting protesters left lying on the ground in the wake of the flying wedge. I walk back up Marlborough St into seeming chaos and violence. I see several great coated Red Squadders have bailed up a few protestors against a low retaining wall and continue to order "Move, Move" while repeatedly striking/jabbing with their batons despite the fact that the protestors are unable to move away. I have a sequence of 5 photos taken of this action that were used in a court case seeking justice for the injured protestors but the case was unsuccessful specifically as the police officers were not identifiable because their identity badge numbers were not worn on the greatcoats.
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