Destiny Church bikers will continue to wear their Tu Tangata leather vests because “they are korowai, not gang patches”, says church matriarch Hannah Tamaki.
New legislation on Monday outlawed the wearing of gang patches in public, and offenders who break that ban could be fined up to $5000 or jailed for six months. The gang patch ban extends to funerals and tangi.
Tamaki told the Herald the 90 bikers who ride under Destiny Church’s Tu Tangata Iwi Tapu patch would continue in the church colours.
Half of the 90 Destiny bikers were former gang members who traded their Black Power and Mongrel Mob patches for the religious insignia.
“We don’t consider Tu Tangata Iwi Tapu a patch or a gang. It’s a korowai,” Tamaki said.
NZ Herald
Read more here. Discuss it on The BFD.
