New Zealand anti-vaccine protesters pelted police with a "stinging substance" sending three to hospital with injuries early today, as tension spilled over in an angry weeks-long protest.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern decried "absolutely disgraceful" scenes after the suspected acid attack, and a startling incident that saw one protester speed a car toward police lines before coming to a quick halt just centimetres away.
The brief but intense confrontations erupted near New Zealand's parliament earlier today, as police moved roadblocks used to contain a protest camp that has clogged downtown Wellington for two weeks.
The Wellington protest began as a movement against vaccine mandates, inspired by similar protests in the Canadian capital Ottawa.