World

New Zealand is arming Barry Manilow, James Blunt and “Macarena” to deter the “Freedom Caravan”

February 13, 2022
Geoffrey Chaucer
In the New Zealand capital Wellington, protesters set up camp on Parliament grounds and gathered in the streets to protest Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s mandate for a vaccine, according to the CNN affiliate. Radio New Zealand (RNZ).
RNZ reported that Protesters responded to the music with sarcasm and the playing of the 1984 song “We Won’t Take It” by American band Twisted Sisters, which has been somewhat adopted as an anthem by Canadian truck drivers.

New Zealand Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard is behind the playlist and has peppered the songs with announcements of Covid-19 vaccination – with several social media users on Twitter making suggestions, including British singer James Blunt.

Quoted by BBC News article Determining the new parliament tactic to disperse the demonstrators, Blunt tagging the New Zealand Police “Give me a shout if that doesn’t work,” he said.
as a response, Mallard said“We’ll take you on your very generous offer,” though he joked whether it was “fair” to the police officers before adding, “I think they’ll be able to cope.”

RNZ said the playlist changed Sunday morning, to include an off-the-record rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” performed by Matt Mulholland that is now one of the Internet’s most popular memes.

was Mallard I asked Twitter users what they thought On the song shortly before it was shown to speakers in Parliament, he also began playing Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful,” with RNZ reporting that the song was played so many times that most protesters knew the words and sang along with it.
& # 39; Freedom Caravan & # 39; Demonstrators enter Paris and stop traffic before being dispersed with tear gas

Other reports on Twitter and local media said “Let It Go” from the 2013 Disney movie “Frozen” was shown, along with the children’s song “Baby Shark”.

Machine guns have also been used previously to disperse protesters, but hundreds remain in camps on the ground, while Wellington District Commander Cory Parnell said Wellington District Commander confirmed there were around 3,000 people over the weekend.

“Police have identified a range of different causes and motives among the protesters, making it difficult to open clear and meaningful lines of communication,” Parnell said in a statement. statment Friday.
A protester waves a flag from behind a car in Wellington on Tuesday.
It also organized other protests for this weekend’s “Freedom Caravan” in Paris, which announced a ban on demonstrations earlier in the week. The protesters in the French capital managed to do that Temporarily block traffic They were dispersed with tear gas.

Canada’s “Freedom Caravan” began at the end of January in Ottawa as an objection to a vaccine mandate that would require truck drivers entering the country to either be fully vaccinated or undergo testing and quarantine requirements. Other protesters then joined the protest against mandates for masks, lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and other Covid-19 precautions.

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