26 Mar 2023

Tomato juice thrower 'ready to face consequences if necessary' after Posie Parker incident

8:35 pm on 26 March 2023

By Sophie Harris of Stuff

Posie Parker said she was “frightened” after she was doused with tomato juice.

Posie Parker said she was "frightened" after she was doused with tomato juice. Photo: Stuff / Chris McKeen

A person who threw tomato juice at anti-trans activist Posie Parker says she has not been contacted by police, but is ready to face consequences if necessary.

On Saturday morning, Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who goes by the name Posie Parker, had been scheduled to speak at a rally in Auckland.

However, she was met with thousands of trans rights counter-protesters, and left the event before speaking, after being doused with tomato juice.

Protester Eli Rubashkyn, who was born intersex and is gender-nonconforming, said she had dropped the litre of juice on the controversial speaker.

Rubashkyn said she chose to dump tomato juice on Parker as a metaphor for the harm caused by her ideologies of the transgender community.

"I am so proud I dropped the juice, and I would do it again, and again - if I have to go to prison for one year, I am more than happy."

Rubashkyn said Keen-Minshull's words had caused so much hate and pain within the transgender community.

"Trans people are under attack.

"Hate speech become violence against minorities," she said.

Rubashkyn, originally from Colombia, said Aotearoa had become a "haven" for her, and she couldn't allow Keen-Minshull to take that away.

"Nobody is going to take the safety or me, my family and community away.

"Ever single second of my existence has been a f...... fight, and I am exhausted."

After Rubashkyn threw the juice she was dragged away by security. She said she was then bitten and beaten by Keen-Minshull supporters.

"It was not assault, it was literally tomato juice.

"I did not beat anyone, I just dropped juice. She needed some Vitamin C on her skin."

Police had not contacted her, however she said she had received three death threats since she threw the juice.

A police spokesperson said they were making enquiries into all reports of offending during the events.

"In general, police are unable to respond to enquiries that seek to establish whether a named individual or organisation are, or have been, the subject of police investigation.

Additionally, people who make a complaint also have a right to privacy, they said.

Earlier, Keen-Minshull told Stuff she was "frightened" after she had juice doused on her prior to speaking at her Auckland event.

"I've never seen anything like this," Keen-Minshull said. "What a shameful day for New Zealand."

* This story was originally published by Stuff.

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