Police have lost patience with an anti-vaccine occupation outside New Zealand's parliament, using serious force and arresting dozens in an effort to end the protest.
By lunchtime, 36 protesters had been arrested in a premeditated operation to clear out the protest on day 23 of their illegal campout.
Police surprised the protesters by moving before dawn.
At 6:06am, protest organisers sent a simple message through its organising social media channel: "WAKE UP", followed by "All who can be on the ground need you all now please" at 6:31am.
Protesters dug in to resist the operation, forming human chains and confronting police at various flashpoints around parliament.
Officers with riot gear deployed pepper spray against protesters, which commissioner Andy Coster said was in response to police being sprayed with a fire extinguisher.
"Our message to those who do not want to be caught up ... is please go home," Mr Coster said.
Many have chosen to do that, while a hardcore crew of a few hundred remain.
Mr Coster said a change in the makeup of the crowd over the last week had prompted the action, which included the destruction of tents and the towing of cars.
"We reached the stage where protest leaders were unwilling or unable to affect meaningful change," he said.
"In the last week we have seen a changing mix in the makeup of the crowd ...those with good intentions are now outnumbered by those with the willingness to use violence."
"The harm being done far outweighs any legitimate protest."
At least one attack on media has been reported, with a Stuff cameraman assaulted by a protester saying "this wouldn't have happened if you guys had told the truth".
Protesters retain control of loudspeakers outside parliament, playing songs including 'Amazing Grace' and 'Don't Stop Believing'.
The "Convoy 2022 NZ" protest began on February 6, New Zealand's national day, when hundreds of protesters took off from the furthest points of the country to descend on Wellington.
They reached parliament two days later to protest on the first day of the parliamentary year - and haven't left since.
Instead, they set up camp on the parliament grounds, leaving their cars on CBD streets, installing all sorts of facilities in readiness for a long stay.
That included laundry, daycare, food and coffee trucks, as well as crystal healing tents, cryptocurrency stalls, a playground for children, and even toilets plumbed in the middle of a road into Wellington's sewage system.
To the irritation of Wellingtonians, the local university and businesses, protesters staged daily rallies to shout invective at the government, journalists and health officials.
They regularly call for prime minister Jacinda Ardern and government MPs to be tried and executed.
They have thrown human waste at police officers and abused children for wearing masks as they walk to school.
Ms Ardern said she supported the police action.
"They have been given ample opportunity to leave (and) it is time for them to go," she said.
"The protest has been at times violent and increasingly fuelled by misinformation and sadly conspiracy theories."
The protest has coincided with New Zealand's biggest outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At least 20 protesters, many of whom are unvaccinated, and all of whom are maskless, have tested positive to the virus during the occupation.
Health officials say their unwillingness to get tested masks the true number, and COVID-19 is rampant among protesters.
Some protesters delusionally believe they have caught "radiation poisoning" from what they believe are government-installed towers to make them sick.
