Zane Wedding flew a rainbow flag from a Norfolk pine next door to Destiny Church in South Auckland/ After climbing down, he claims he was assaulted by church members.
Video / Supplied
Zane Wedding told the Herald church security punched him twice in his eye early this morning after he and a friend ascended the tree down the road from the Druces Rd church property - leaving him with a black eye.
He said by the time he got down from the tree a couple of people had already cornered his friend.
“They subsequently cornered me. Whilst that was happening, I definitely thought this was dangerous so I called the police.”
Despite Destiny Church’s assertion the tree was on private property, Wedding said it was public land and the tree was 50m to 100m from the church.
This morning a pride flag was raised on public property outside Destiny Church. This was done not to hate Destiny but so our Rainbow community know they deserve to feel safe everywhere!!Unfortunately Destiny were waiting at the bottom of the tree and assaulted me. pic.twitter.com/oLv0jr77vt
Wedding said he was hit for the first after he called police and was waiting for them to arrive.
“He knocked me over, and the police pulled up, I rolled over and sat on my hand,” he said.
“At that point, the police separated us and I stayed on the ground. We spoke for a few minutes and he ran around the police and I jumped up and he punched me in the face again and it was at that point they properly separated us, and not long after that, he was taken away by police.
“When I got to the ground, the first thing they said to me was, ‘Where do your kids go to school?’ and ‘What is your name?’ - it was really threatening and a violent act.”
Video taken during the incident, obtained by the Herald, shows Wedding speaking to police and claiming he has just been assaulted.
“These people are threatening my kids. You have to understand, I just got punched twice in the head. I’m feeling a little bit up about that.
”He just ran past three police officers, punched me... can you please put him in cuffs.”
However, Destiny Church has hit back, describing Wedding’s claims as “mischief-making” and suggesting the tree climber already had a black eye before being spoken to church security.
“I sincerely hope he is not trying to accuse us of this, for the sake of a bit of drama to suit their case.”
Wedding said he wanted to show solidarity with the country’s LGBTQ+ community after what has been a “heavy week”.
“What I really want is for a flag to be flown on a public space to be a safe thing and to tell Destiny Church they do not own South Auckland - the whānau that I have from the rainbow community know they can fly their identity high and they will be safe.
“We should be able to go forward and ensure they have the right to have their identity shown safely - not just in K Rd, but everywhere.”
Police said initial inquiries suggest there was an altercation between a man and two occupants of a Druces Rd property at 4.20am after a man was observed hanging in a tree outside the property.
Police said inquiries were under way to establish exactly what took place, and whether an assault occurred, but confirmed there were no injuries reported as a result of the incident.
A rainbow flag flying from a Norfolk Pine tree outside the Destiny Church in Wiri. Photo / Zane Wedding
The incident follows the painting over of two rainbow crossings in the past week - one in Gisborne on Monday and the second at Karangahape Rd in Auckland on Thursday, which police have labelled hate crimes.
Two men, aged 46 and 36, and a 45-year-old woman have been charged with graffiti vandalism after the Gisborne crossing was painted white, and a fourth suspect has been identified.
Police are asking for those responsible for the second rainbow crossing attack, on Auckland’s Karangahape Rd, to come forward.
