Fight club or fright night?
New Zealand gangs came together in a show of force and unity during a mixed martial arts tournament in Northland – but not everyone’s impressed, writes Helen King.
directly drug-related. ‘‘What might surprise the general public is a lot of the gangs work together, a lot of them are related,’’ said Inspector Justin Rogers, Northland and Kaipara area commander.
Black Power member, Puketi Timoti, said recent gang deaths had affected people no matter what gang they were from.
‘‘The last thing we wanted was for that to become the status quo and it doesn’t have to.’’
Among the crowd was the family of Head Hunters gang associate and partner of Millie Elder-Holmes, Connor Morris, who was murdered in West Auckland in 2014. His father, Chris Morris said: ‘‘My nephew, who is a patched member of the Head Hunters also, is going in there and representing Connor tonight, so it’s pretty cool.’’
But this show of unity hasn’t won wholesale support. Shane Jones, who is back on the campaign trail as a New Zealand First candidate, said he regarded these events as a ‘‘recruitment drive’’. ‘‘Go and look in the eyes of the tamariki, into the eyes of the women in Arohata prison serving time for their men and you tell me there’s something honourable about these maggots. Until they stop selling meth I will regard them with nothing but contempt.’’
Many locals were uneasy about hundreds of gang members in town, and a police checkpoint led to more than 106 infringement notices, four suspended licences, three impounded cars and one driver found over the limit. Four people were arrested.
One motel owner, who asked not to be named, said some accommodation providers had gone offline so the gangs couldn’t stay in their motels and hotels.
Te Tai Tokerau and Labour MP, Kelvin Davis, didn’t attend the event. He said if the gangs stopped dealing in meth they’d
You tell me there’s something honourable about these maggots. Until they stop selling meth I will regard them with nothing but contempt.’ SHANE JONES