A man says he was assaulted outside Auckland's Destiny Church after he raised a pride flag in a nearby public area.
However, the church is accusing him of "mischief-making" to wind up the Rainbow community and "make Destiny Church look bad".
Police say they're investigating, and one person has come back to their station for questioning.
The person who raised the flag, veteran protester Zane Wedding, described the events to Newshub on Sunday afternoon.
"This morning me and a colleague, we went out to a public space, a tree that's not too far from Destiny's Church," he explained.
"In a show of solidarity, and just to let people understand that that flag can be flown anywhere because you should feel safe everywhere... We climbed up a tree within sight of Destiny's Church and we flew the pride flag from there.
"Unfortunately by the time I got down, members of the church had come out and they kind of surrounded us, and not long after that I was assaulted," he alleged.
Taking to Twitter on Sunday morning, Wedding shared a photo of a black eye.
But a Destiny Church spokesperson said he already had a black eye before arriving and "his story is incorrect".
"Our security team noted that a prowler was on the church's private property, and the prowler proceeded to climb a tree to erect a flag," they told Newshub.
They said police were called, who reportedly said no action was necessary on their part.
"Our security team and the police noted that the guy already had a black eye, so I sincerely hope he is not trying to accuse us of this, for the sake of a bit of drama to suit their case."
In response to Destiny Church's statement, Wedding told Newshub they "100 percent gave me the black eye".
"My colleague, who was filming, was just shoved and told to back up, but I was punched in the head, eye and jaw."
In a statement from police, they confirmed they responded to a report of an assault on Druces Road, Wiri at 4:20am on Sunday. Destiny Church is based on this road.
"Initial enquiries suggest there was an altercation between a man and two occupants of a Druces Road property, after the man was observed hanging a flag in a tree outside the property," they said.
"Enquiries are still underway to establish exactly what took place, and whether an assault occurred."
They added no injuries were reported and an ambulance wasn't required.
"One of the people involved accompanied police back to the station for questioning. At this time, no arrests have been made."
