End of the rooftop protest: young people leave the roof of the Viri justice building, the Prime Minister does not respond to previous demands

As of 8:46 a.m., four people remained on the roof.

The group loudly demanded five large McDonald’s Big Macs, cigarettes and a getaway car.

Luxon told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast the authorities have done a good job trying to stop them.

“No, they’re not going to buy KFC,” Luxon said, referring to trumps offered to young people at the same facility in July last year and at Te Puna Wai O Tuhinapo youth justice facility near Christchurch.

“These are some of our most serious and violent young offenders.”

The prime minister later said he would not speculate on what caused the incident, instead citing the government’s recommendations from a review of youth services led by former police commissioner Mike Bush.

“A lot can be learned from this case once we get the kids off the roof.”

However, Luxon said it was the first “rooftop incident” at a juvenile justice facility this year, fewer than the 15 he said occurred last year.

Before the protest ended, Police and Correctional Services Minister Mark Mitchell said police had the situation under control and there was no danger to the public.

And Ian Chapman, Oranga Tamariki, acting DCE of Youth Justice and Children’s Services, Oranga Tamariki, said staff were “actively engaging with the four youths remaining on the roof, working with police to bring them down in a safe manner.” .

Although the NZME photographer heard demands shouted from the rooftop, the group did not approach OT directly with any requests.

“We can confirm that the youth have not made requests or demands of our officers on site and have no concerns for public safety,” Chapman said.

An NZME photographer at the scene said youths were tearing off pieces of the roof, removing insulation and kicking the building.

“Another man was walking on the roof with playing cards while others were shouting to each other, joking and laughing.”

Herald saw young people shouting from the roof this morning, about 12 hours after the incident began.

The youths were dispersed in two separate areas, shouting gang slang and making gang-like hand gestures to the officers below.

“Will this be on the news? Tell them we are protesting,” said one young man.

Authorities threw water bottles onto the roof for young people.

In a statement, Chapman said Oranga Tamariki confirmed they were responding to an incident at Korowai Manaaki, one of their youth justice facilities in Auckland.

“We notified police at 6.45pm this evening that 13 young people had gained access to the roof of the building.

“One young man has since died and we are working with police to resolve the matter and can confirm there are no public safety concerns.”

Similar incidents occurred at the same facility last year when groups of young people climbed onto the roof of the 40-bed facility.

Six young people survived a wet and cold night on the roof on July 1 after escaping the premises.

On a July night the temperature dropped to around 11°C and the area received heavy rain.

However, the 30-hour standoff ended when OT employees agreed to bring them hamburgers and fried chicken.

A month later, three young men caused a safety incident when they climbed onto the roof.

The trio were persuaded several hours later.

In June last year, another group of youths staged a standoff on the roof of Te Puna Wai O Tuhinapo youth justice facility near Christchurch.

During the incident, one of the employees suffered a broken wrist, and four young people spent the night in the basement of the building.

The fifth youth had come down earlier in the evening.

But the other four were taken down the stairs 24 hours after the incident began and taken into police custody.

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