Controversial anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull has been forced to cut short her women’s rally after she was swarmed by an angry crowd.
Thousands of counter-protesters gathered in Auckland’s Albert Park on Saturday morning ahead of her scheduled appearance at an organised rally.
The biological sex campaigner had been in New Zealand on the next leg of her Let Women Speak tour, which sparked clashes in Australia last week.
As she made her way towards the podium to address the crowd she was quickly swamped by counter-protesters who booed and heckled her.
At one point a protester poured a bottle of tomato sauce over her head before being ejected by security.
Keen-Minshull attempted to go ahead with her speech but was drowned out by chants of “go home”, drums, and a Whitney Houston song which played over a loudspeaker.
The crowd quickly overtook the rally, chanting “trans rights are human rights”.
She was escorted out flanked by police a short time later and reportedly asked if she could be taken to a police station.
Hours after the incident Keen-Minshull took to Twitter, saying “I genuinely feared for my life today”.
“My activism is simple, we #LetWomenSpeak. Why does that make anyone so angry?” she wrote.
“We showed the world what happens to women when they try to speak. No one can pretend they don’t see the salivating misogyny.”
Keen-Minshull was due to speak at an event in Wellington on Saturday but that had been cancelled following today’s incident, according to Speak Up For Women.
“Mrs Keen-Minshull’s security team have advised her that they cannot keep her safe from mob violence and the police have declined to do so,” Speak Up For Women said in a statement.
“Speak Up for Women thanks Mrs Keen-Minshull for having the courage to come to New Zealand and showing up in Albert Park today, despite receiving multiple death threats and threats of violence in the last week.”
Keen-Minshull attracted controversy during her tour of Australia last week after Neo-Nazi’s infiltrated an event in Melbourne.
On Thursday, Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe was tackled by police as she attempted to confront Keen-Minshull during a rally outside Parliament House.
News Source: www.skynews.com.au
