Trial begins for Destiny Church founder Brian Tamaki, accused of organizing illegal protests against Covid-19

The charges include organizing a protest on October 2, 2021, in Oakland County while the city was under alert level 3, participating in the same meeting, participating in another protest at the same location on October 16 the same year, and participating in another protest in the county Auckland in November. 2.

Wife Hannah Tamaki was initially charged with attending two unlawful assemblies: the same one as her husband on Nov. 20, and another on Oct. 30 of the same year that Brian Tamaki was not present at. Prosecutors withdrew the Nov. 20 charge at the start of today’s hearing.

Co-defendant Jennifer Louise Marshall, director of operations at Destiny Church and executive assistant to Brian Tamaki, faces four charges of participating in and organizing protests on October 2 and 16. And Caleb Cave, who has acted as a MC at some of the protests and worships Destiny. leader – is accused of participating in protests on October 2, 16 and 30.

A fifth defendant, Paul Thompson, recently pleaded guilty and was released without conviction.

The group, represented by Ron Mansfield KS, elected the court alone. Mansfield did not make an opening statement, which is standard practice for trials before a single judge.

Nathan noted in his opening remarks that small gatherings of no more than two households and 10 people were allowed at the time. People were required to wear masks, maintain social distancing and use QR codes or log-in logs.

Prosecutors said about 1,000 people attended the Oct. 2 protest. The event on October 16 was attended by about 2,000 people. About 5,000 people came to the protest on October 30, of which about 2,000 people came on November 20.

Brian Tamaki used social media and podcasts to get people to participate, and Marshall was one of the main organizers, Nathan said. At several events, Marshall was seen with a radio and headphones. Meanwhile, Tamaki was seen shaking hands with “at least three unidentified individuals” at one meeting and speaking on stage, where the first four to five rows were seen not maintaining social distancing.

At the October 30 protest, which Brian Tamaki did not attend, Hannah Tamaki took the stage.

“After today there will be more summonses, more court appearances,” the prosecution quotes her as telling the crowd. “We don’t care. We are not afraid.”

At this protest, Nathan said, Cave supported and then led a march in which the crowd formed one large group.

Eight months later, in a public appearance in July 2022, Brian Tamaki made his role clear.

“Yes, I admit that I was behind them all,” he said. “I organized them.”

One witness was called before the end of the trial this afternoon.

Sergeant Scott Isard said he was assigned to Operation Reinsurance – the police response to the pandemic – when he met with Marshall on September 25, 2021, a week before the protest.

“I was driving through the Auckland Domain and noticed a group of about 25 people standing outside the Auckland Museum,” he told the court. “She (Marshall) said they were meeting to organize a protest next week.”

Isard said he noticed the group was not social distancing, so he asked them to do so.

“There were no problems,” he said. “They all immediately moved two meters away from each other.”

Brian Tamaki was also charged three times with breaching his bail conditions as he continued to attend rallies after his initial arrest. However, the alleged bail violations did not result in new criminal charges and are not part of the trial.

One alleged breach of bail conditions – his participation in an anti-vaccine rally in Christchurch attended by more than 100 people – led to him spending more than a week in jail in January 2022 before being released under a 24-hour curfew. However, his bail restrictions were significantly eased as nationwide Covid-19 restrictions were also lifted.

The hearing is scheduled for two weeks.

Craig Captain is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand since 2002.

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