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Police defend the use of force by an officer during the riots in Whangamatā, in which a young man was kicked in the back during New Year celebrations.
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As police watched, a person was seen throwing a bottle from the roof. Source: NZ Herald
Video footage shows a young man sitting on a pole as police tried to clear the crowd, before an advancing officer kicked him in the back.
Inspector Dean Anderson, the Eastern Waikato area commander, said in a statement that the incident was undesirable, but force is sometimes required.
He said the person in the clip was warned multiple times but refused to move.
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Considerable damage has been done to a local café after the difficult start to 2021. Source: 1 NEWS
Anderson said he was lucky that the police officers involved in the riot were not seriously injured when the youths threw bottles and damaged property.
Police needed to clear the area because a group of youths had been violent and disorderly, he said.
He said that several young women had been removed from the area with head lacerations and the young men continued to damage property.
Those who remained in the area were “intoxicated and belligerent, and refused to go ahead,” he said.
