New
Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with a violent crowd raising slogans like
“shame on you” and “traitor” as she visited a primary school in Christchurch
amid tensions over increasingly volatile anti-vaccine mandate protests on
Thursday. Some protesters were seen holding placards saying that Ardern would
be “put on trial” and “held responsible” referring to conspiracy theories that
a group of world leaders and powerful people are secretly using vaccines to
commit genocide.

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She,
however, left the place unhindered as police officers formed a barricade to allow
the prime minister to pass through.

According
to a report by The Guardian, parents and teachers at the school were “visibly
upset” by the untoward incident. The protest came as New Zealand reported 6,137 new cases of COVID-19,
almost a doubling from the previous record, set one day earlier.

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Anti-vaccine
and anti-vaccine mandate protesters have been occupying New Zealand’s
parliament well for more than two weeks and blocking a number of streets in
Wellington’s central business district with their cars.

The
non-violent protest against the vaccine mandate changed the mood as some
protesters have included violent threats against politicians, scientists and
journalists. Two schools in the area have shut for the week, citing ongoing
harassment of students for wearing masks. One protester was arrested this week
after driving his car at a line of police officers, and police have also
alleged that protesters threw faecal matter at officers.

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Last
month, Ardern’s vehicle was chased and forced onto a curb by anti-vaccination
protesters calling her a Nazi and she was hurled with abuses. Asked about the
incident at the time, Ardern said it was “just another day”.

“At
no point was I worried about my safety or the safety of anyone that was with
me,” she said.

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“Every
day is faced with new and different experiences in this job … We are in an
environment at the moment that does have an intensity to it that is unusual for
New Zealand. I do also believe that with time it will pass.”