A Far North principal and a former teacher have been spotted taking part in the protest that erupted at Parliament. 

Abundant Life School principal Mark Tan was filmed at the anti-mandate protest two weeks ago, thanks to a series of live videos posted on Facebook by his brother-in-law and former Abundant Life School art and te reo Māori teacher Billy-James (BJ) Natanahira. 

The pair have been openly opposed to the vaccine mandate, with Natanahira one of several teachers who resigned from Abundant Life School after the introduction of the mandate in November. 

A former Abundant Life School teacher caught on 1News throwing bricks at police during the protest at Parliament on March 2. Photo / Supplied 

Tan is on a year-long sabbatical. 

Upon arriving in Wellington on March 2, Natanahira livestreamed updates from before, during and after the violent protest, admitting in one video to throwing bricks at police. 

In another video, Natanahira introduces Tan, before panning away to show the police standing around the perimeter of Parliament's grounds. 

The videos have since been deleted. 

In addition to the Facebook live videos, Natanahira also appeared to be filmed on 1News throwing bricks at police. 

The protest at Parliament turned violent after police upped their presence on the morning of March 2 in an effort to shut down the month-long occupation. 

The Northland Age approached Natanahira about the incident last week, who said he was now home from Wellington, and confirmed he attended the protest. 

He explained the trip down south had been organised for some time, but it was not his intention to get caught up in the violence that ensued. 

"We had been planning to do a trip on our 50cc motorbikes from the East Cape to Wellington for about six months," he said. 

"When we got there, we thought we would check the protest out and that's when we saw a lot of crazy things going on, it wasn't good." 

Natanahira described how at one stage he was allegedly shot at twice by police for helping an elderly lady off the ground. 

He said he tried his best to remain calm, but admits he "turned into an idiot". 

"It was just one of those things, but when two police rammed at me, I snapped and retaliated," Natanahira alleged. 

"I knew it was a one-off moment, but I'd seen so much unnecessary brutality that I thought, this is not on. 

"I could understand why people were reacting the way they were, but I still didn't think I'd get caught up as I did." 

Natanahira said as soon as he threw the bricks, he immediately regretted it and was now living with the consequences of his actions. 

After the vision of Natanahira appeared on television, a Northland Age reader (who wished to remain anonymous) wrote to the paper, expressing their concerns after seeing him on the news. 

They said it was disturbing to see him throwing bricks and the footage had upset their children. 

"My kids went to that school and were very disappointed and have lost all respect for him (Natanahira) now," they said. 

"The true heroes of that school are the teachers who got vaccinated and who remained." 

Natanahira said he was upset his actions had impacted his whānau and the wider community. 

"I'm gutted, especially for my own family who've had to bear all this for my moment of madness," he said. 

"I've had numerous meetings with people asking what the hell was I up to." 

Natanahira confirmed he had contacted Kaitaia police and would be meeting with them once he was able to come out of self-isolation due to his household being sick with Covid-19. 

"I'm expected to catch up with the police to talk everything through when I can," Natanahira said. 

"I want to make it clear what happened, but they know my story already." 

Police could not confirm information about specific individuals but appealed to anyone with information about people who attended the recent protest at Parliament to contact them. 

"We know there was a broad range of people who attended the protest and the investigation phase into the criminal activity during that operation is under way," a police spokesperson said. 

"As of Thursday last week, 100 people had been arrested and police are appealing for the public's help to identify anyone involved in criminal activity during that week's operation to restore order and access to the parliamentary precinct." 

According to the spokesperson, the police investigation team was seeking first-hand images and videos of violent criminal offending and people committing offences in and around Parliament on Wednesday, March 2, and during the three weeks prior. 

The content can be uploaded here. 

Both Abundant Life School principal Mark Tan and BOT chairwoman Karena Hita were contacted for comment but declined. 

The stance of the Abundant Life School teachers regarding the vaccine mandate is not isolated to the Kaitaia school, however, with two other Northland teachers now awaiting the outcome of a High Court challenge towards vaccine mandates. 

A judicial review into the lawfulness of the Government's Covid-19 vaccination mandates for educators and health workers began in the High Court at Wellington just over a week ago and is still awaiting a verdict. 

New Zealand Teachers Speaking out with Science (NZTSOS) and New Zealand Doctors 
Speaking out with Science (NZDSOS) have taken the Covid-19 Response Minister, the Director-General of Health and Attorney General to court, with the groups seeking High Court judge Justice Francis Cooke to strike down the vaccination order. 

They claim the vaccination mandate is not a "demonstrably justified" breach of the Bill of Rights Act, namely the right to decline medical treatment. 

The court challenge also questions using mandates in an Omicron environment, pointing to comments from some medical professionals suggesting the variant's transmissibility renders mandates unnecessary. 

Mike Shaw, NZTSOS spokesman and Kaikohe Christian School board of trustees representative, has his fingers crossed that the vaccine mandates will be quashed. 

Shaw said staff negatively impacted by the mandates had given up hope when their first legal challenge was dismissed by High Court judge Justice Matthew Palmer in November. 

"But we're optimistic this time around, given the results with the police and the defence force as we've got some similar evidence being put forward." 

Shaw said they had 81 affidavits from teachers and health workers nationwide - some of whom lost their jobs after declining vaccination - to support the challenge. 

"One of our points is that we are not an anti-vax group. In fact, many of our members are vaccinated. This is purely against the mandates," he said. 

Shaw was motivated to become involved in getting the review to the High Court by his fears small rural schools and communities would be "devastated" by vaccine mandates. 

"One principal described it to me as trauma upon trauma," he said. 

The vaccine mandate was first announced in October with affected educators required to have the first dose by November 15 and a second by January 1. 

The mandate was later extended to include a booster shot by March 1 - if eligible for that deadline.