Posie Parker tomato juice protester to face trial for New Zealand incident

A trans women who threw tomato juice over anti-trans activist Posie Parker – also known as Kellie-Jay Keen – in New Zealand has failed to have her charges dropped, meaning she will face trail.

In March, Parker embarked on her controversial anti-trans Let Women Speak tour across Australia and New Zealand. At a tour stop in Auckland, trans protestor Eli Rubashkyn poured tomato juice over the pundit’s head.

Rubashkyn said at the time of the incident that she threw the juice because she wanted the anti-trans activist to “know that her words are blood”.

Following the ‘juicing’ of Parker, Rubashkyn has claimed on social media that there have since been two attempts on her life by “Nazis”. 

On Thursday (26 October), judge Claire Ryan rejected Rubashkyn’s lawyer’s application to throw out the two assault charges against her. The 35-year-old, whose legal name is Eliana Golberstein, will now have to faces two charges of assault at trial.

Judge Ryan delivered her decision at the Auckland District Court and said it was not her place to take a political stance.

“My task is not to consider whether Ms Keen is a bad person or stands for bad things, or whether what the defendant did, if they committed the offence, is morally wrong,” Ryan said.

She added that Rubashkyn has repeatedly acknowledged pouring the juice in media interviews. 

Parker is alleged to be the victim of one of the charges, while Rubashkyn faces a second charge of assaulting another person who is thought to be an organiser of the event who was standing next to Parker and also got doused in juice. 

The charges each carry a maximum term of six months in jail and a fine of $4,000 (approximately £2,000).

A trial date is yet to be set, but the matter will be called again at the same court on 26 February for a trial call-over –  a hearing that provides the judge with an opportunity to deal with procedural issues and ensure the case is ready to proceed to trial.