NZ First MP claims his removal from bar ‘political’
New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell says he is the victim of a “politically motivated” attack after he was forced out of a Tauranga bar on Saturday night.
Mitchell said yesterday he expected an apology from security “buffoons” at the Mount Brewing Co. Bar for overreacting and “forcefully” removing him and his friend from the bar.
He vehemently rejected reports that he had accidentally hit a female bar staffer, causing her to cry, or that either he or his friend had told security “we are the law” when they were asked to leave.
“We know the Young Nats are in behind, trying to stir something up here,” Mitchell said.
“Essentially there was some behaviour of a staff member that overreacted and very, very forcefully handled myself and a friend of mine. I have spoken with the owner of the business and I think they’re taking measures to resolve that at their end.”
Young Nats president Sam Stead rejected Mitchell’s claim.
“This issue has nothing to do with us. The Young Nats wouldn’t waste their time on an MP they’ve never heard of.”
Security guard John Domoney, who was working at the bar at the time, told Newshub that Mitchell and his friend were asked repeatedly to move from an area where bar staff needed to pass through. When they were asked to move, the bar staff were told: “We are the law.”
He said that Mitchell accidentally hit a female bar staffer on the side of a head with a glass.
“A female staff member came out of the bar crying and upset and she had said one of the guys from that group — which was Clayton — had hit her on the side of the head with a glass and spilled his drink on her,” he told Newshub. “It wasn’t an assault, it was more of an accidental incident, but it was because he was in that bar area.”
But Mitchell said he and his friend were ordering a drink at the bar, and there was plenty of room for bar staff to move around them.
He and his friend moved away from the bar after getting their drinks, and security approached them three minutes later.
“I was actually on the phone to the owner at the time while trying to resolve this issue when I was grabbed quite forcefully by these buffoons. There was no fighting . . , but there was a bit of a kerfuffle.”
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said there was video footage exonerating Mitchell but he had not seen it.