Police are investigating a Hamilton woman’s claim that an officer broke her arm at a protest.
Kerry Tankard says she was outside the Copthorne Hotel in Palmerston North last Thursday when an officer assaulted her.
She was part of a protest by Auckland Peace Action against the Weapons Expo.
In a statement made to police and released to 1 NEWS, Ms Tankard says she had a fracture to her radius and ulna, leaving her needing a cast.
She said the incident had left her “angry” and “tired”.
A spokesperson for the group, Valerie Morse, described police during the protest as acting “thuggish”.
But Inspector Peter Thurston told 1 NEWS that police “were dealing with a number of protestors who acted in a way that created safety issues, disrupted traffic, inconvenienced the wider public and in one instance an officer was spat at”.
“We take any complaint seriously and this will be thoroughly investigated,” he said.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has also confirmed it has been notified, and it is carrying out a full assessment.
SHARE ME