A man on the police watch list after allegedly making death threats against Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been arrested at a Bay of Plenty property.
Richard Sivell was arrested and placed in handcuffs by armed police on Tuesday morning after a search warrant was presented at a Te Puke rural address, a police spokeswoman said.
"During this operation, a man refused to leave the premises and was arrested."
Sivell had allegedly been posting threatening messages on the Telegram chat group about Ardern and others involved in the COVID-19 response.
"They are going to die. We are not going to allow them to share this world with us anymore. Same as Jacinda. She is going to die. Execute these motherf***ers. I look forward to hearing their necks snap," Sivell allegedly said in an audio message on the Counterspin channel on Telegram.
Sivell allegedly talked about holding Ardern "accountable" and stringing her up in another audio message on Telegram Newshub has heard.
The Telegram app was a common social media channel for anti-Government protesters to communicate during the 23-day occupation of Parliament's grounds after a number were banned from mainstream apps.
Sivell recorded himself being arrested by police which was shared on Telegram.
"The pigs are up here," he said.
"They turned up first thing this morning - four masked goons. They tried to detain me and steal my property.
"I managed to fend them off and got in touch with a couple of people. They produced some f***ing bullshit paperwork saying there was a search warrant. It was not signed by a judge. I asked him to leave it. He didn't leave it.
"They've been f***ing harassing me and they're staking me out at the moment up on top of the road."
Sivell is due to appear in Tauranga District Court on April 4 on charges that include obstructing Police.
