Mahuta condemns Washington riots

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reacted to the riots that erupted at the Capitol building in the United States, saying democracy ‘‘should never be undone by a mob’’.

And Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta condemned the riots in Washington yesterday, in which a woman was fatally shot by police and three other people died in ‘‘medical emergencies’’.

Americans in New Zealand watched in disbelief as proTrump supporters broke into the Capitol, protesting against the congressional process to confirm Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of November’s presidential election.

There was shock as protesters ran through the halls seen as the bastion of democracy, and it ricocheted around the US and across the world.

‘‘We regret unfolding events in Washington, DC. Our thoughts are with the American people,’’ Mahuta said on Twitter.

‘‘Violence has no place in thwarting democracy.

‘‘We look forward to the peaceful transition of the political administration, which is the hallmark of democracy. Kia tau nga¯ manaakitanga.’’

Across New Zealand, Americans were stunned by the events.

Genice Paullay-Beazley, a New Yorker who lives in Auckland and is active in the New Zealand chapter of Democrats Abroad, described the scenes as ‘‘total anarchy’’ that amounted to an attempted coup by supporters of President Donald Trump.

While she has lived in the relative calm of New Zealand for the past 16 years, Paullay-Beazley said her family in the US were having to deal with the unrest and the coronavirus pandemic.

‘‘Having said that, America is still my home and it breaks my heart,’’ Paullay-Beazley said.

‘‘I said many years ago America was going to tear itself

to pieces and we are seeing that happening now.’’

American expat and Canterbury University history professor Dr Peter Field said he believed most Americans would condemn the violence. The real danger was a ‘‘Left and Right’’ media, and the targeted distribution through algorithms of news content that supported people’s established world views, Field said.

Rachel Bowyer moved from the US to Auckland in 2019 because of the ‘‘insufferable’’ political climate in her home country. ‘‘The divide in family and friends was getting so vicious.’’

The fact protesters managed to storm Capitol had Hill illustrated the double standards in the country, she said. ‘‘If it was a BLM [Black Lives Matter] protest, they would have been shot on sight.’’

Auckland-based Trump supporter Amy Benjamin said while she did not agree with the protesters’ tactics, she understood their frustration.

‘‘I believe the election was stolen,’’ the Californian said.

Todd Hopkins, from Southern California, had been glued to the news all morning. The site of the

Capitol building being stormed stirred up so much emotion he had to leave his home in Wellington to take his mind off things as the situation came to a conclusion.

‘‘It was pretty grotesque and frightening at the same time.’’

He said the United States has been divided for some time and Trump had ‘‘stoked the fires of the extreme Right’’. The political climate at home had informed Hopkins’ decision to come to New Zealand three years ago.

‘‘America is still my home and it breaks my heart.’’

Genice Paullay-Beazley