Yachting trophy smashed

Friday, March 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

A Maori separatist group that wants an independent Maori state claimed responsibility for the attack, and said more would follow until the "illegal occupation of New Zealand" by whites ended.

A seven-member group, Tino Rangitiratanga Liberation Organization (Maori Sovereignty Liberation Organization), claimed responsibility.

Lorraine Smith, the lawyer representing the man arrested for the attack, said: "The America's Cup stands for everything my client's organization despises. He believes he had a moral right to do exactly as he did."

Though police have not yet named the suspect, New Zealand's TV-3 identified him as Benjamin Pere Nathan.

The Maori, who make up about 15 percent of New Zealand's population of 3.6 million, have a variety of grievances. They are the poorest and least privileged of New Zealand's peoples.

No one paid much attention to the young man dressed in a suit, shirt and tie who visited the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron on Friday and politely asked to see the Cup, as thousands had before him.

He ascended a flight of stairs to a wood-paneled room, with picture windows overlooking Auckland Harbor and the bridge, where the Cup was displayed in a showcase.

New Zealand is an open, trusting society, so there was no security guard in the room as the man suddenly pulled a short-handled sledgehammer from a bag slung over his shoulder and attacked the trophy case.

Yacht squadron Commodore John Heise said the "Maori gentleman" was "in a frenzy" and chanting in the "Maori language" during the brief onslaught.

The man repeatedly smashed at the armored glass casing until it broke open, and tried but failed to get the Cup out of the broken cabinet. He then tore off his jacket and shirt to reveal a T-shirt emblazoned with Maori sovereignty slogans, police and witnesses said.

Nearby building workers grabbed the man, who was cut by broken glass.

He was arrested, and will appear in court Saturday to face criminal damage charges, which carry a maximum penalty of two years in jail.