Anti-mandate protesters are sharing a photo of a man wearing a hearing aid as supposed evidence police have infiltrated the protest to stir up violence.
Protesters have been trying to distance themselves from the violence on Tuesday by suggesting police or others are deliberately pretending to be protesters to cause trouble - a claim they have no proof of and the police have denied.
The photo is of a man who is believed to have set fireworks off in the middle of a crowd. Protesters and their supporters have taken to social media to suggest his earpiece is proof he's an undercover police officer.
"Look at his ear.. same earpiece as cops are wearing!! This guy was firing fireworks at us!!" 'FUBAR nz', who is raising money for the protesters, wrote on Twitter.
"Police / co-opters working to discredit peaceful protest at Wellington Parliament Freedom Village - this guy firing fireworks into crowd was pictured with the same earpiece as the cops. Whats wrong with these people, they don't even hide their crimes on the people," another person tweeted.
But a spokesperson for Deaf Aotearoa said the device was actually a hearing aid.
The device appears to be a behind the ear [BTE] hearing aid. BTEs are sleeker and slimmer than other hearing aids. The microphone sits behind the ear and the receiver is connected via a thin, clear tube that is placed inside the ear. They are used for all levels of hearing loss.
A video posted to Twitter seems to show the man communicating in New Zealand sign language as well.
Protest leaders alleged people wearing police earpieces were infiltrating the occupiers in a statement on Tuesday night.
"Video and photographic evidence has emerged that agitators use earpieces identical to that used by Police. An individual letting off loud fireworks to the rear of the protest on Tuesday morning, making a sound similar to gunshots that naturally increased tension, was immediately stopped by other protestors, and he was handed over to Police. Footage of this person is widely available on social media."
Protest leaders did not reply to a request for evidence of infiltrators wearing police earpieces.
The claims of police infiltrating the protest to stir up trouble were ruled out by Assistant Police Commissioner Richard Chambers during a press conference on Tuesday.
When asked whether there was any evidence the police or Government had planted people in the crowd to make the protesters look bad, Chambers laughed and said "no".
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster also poured cold water on the theory people from other groups were infiltrating the protests to stir up trouble.
"I have heard suggestions that is the case but I have got no evidence to say that's the case. The behaviour that is occurring is being done by people who have joined the protest or it is being enabled because the protest is there in the form that it is," Coster told AM on Wednesday.
When asked about people wearing earpieces, Coster said it could be the protesters' own security but he wasn't sure.
It comes after violence erupted on Tuesday with a man being arrested for trying to drive a car into police and three officers were hospitalised after having an unknown, stinging substance thrown on them.
Earlier in the week protesters also threw human waste on police.
