As the
Māori nationalist movement grew in New Zealand in the late 1960s and 1970s, Iti became involved. He protested against the
Vietnam War and
apartheid in South Africa, and was involved with
Ngā Tamatoa, a Māori protest group of the 1970s, from its early days. In 2016, he said: "Over time, I had to get smart about how to exercise my political consciousness, and I discovered that art is probably the safest way I'm able to do that." Iti stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as a candidate of
Mana Māori in the
1996,
1999 and
2002 New Zealand general elections, and for the Māori Party in
2014. In 2015 Iti gave a talk for
TEDx Auckland about his years of activism. In 2019 he was activist-in-residence for a week at
Massey University, as part of which he held a public talk and a workshop, and released a paper on decolonialisation. In 2021 and 2022 he spoke out in support of the
COVID-19 vaccine, and criticised participants of the early 2022
Wellington protest.
2005 firearms charge On 16 January 2005 during a
pōwhiri (greeting ceremony) that formed part of a
Waitangi Tribunal hearing, Iti fired a shotgun into a flag (reportedly an
Australian flag, which he used as a substitute for the
New Zealand flag) in close proximity to a large number of people. Iti explained this act as reference to the 1860s
East Cape War: "We wanted them to feel the heat and smoke, and Tūhoe outrage and disgust at the way we have been treated for 200 years.". The police subsequently charged Iti with unlawfully possessing and firing a shotgun in a public place. The trial occurred in June 2006, and Iti elected to give evidence in Māori (his first language). He said that he was following the Tūhoe custom of making noise with
tōtara poles. Tūhoe
kaumātua said that the tribe had disciplined Iti and had clarified that guns were not to be fired in anger on the marae, but that they could be fired in honour of ancestors and those who fought in war Judge Chris McGuire said: "It was designed to intimidate unnecessarily and shock. It was a stunt, it was unlawful." Iti was convicted on both charges and fined for the offences. Iti attempted to sell the flag he shot on the
TradeMe auction site to pay the fine and his legal costs, but the sale was withdrawn by TradeMe following complaints. Iti lodged an appeal in which his lawyer,
Annette Sykes, argued that Crown law did not stretch to the ceremonial area in front of a marae's wharenui. On 4 April 2007, the
Court of Appeal overturned his convictions for unlawfully possessing a firearm. While recognising that events occurred in "a unique setting", the court did not agree with Sykes' submission about Crown law. However Justices Hammond, O'Regan and Wilson found that his prosecutors failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Iti's actions caused "requisite harm" under section 51 of the
Arms Act. The Court of Appeal described Iti's protest as "a foolhardy enterprise" and warned him not to attempt anything similar again.
2007 police raids Iti was one of 17 people arrested by police on 15 October 2007 in a series of raids under the
Terrorism Suppression Act and the
Firearms Act, carried out in
Te Urewera and around New Zealand. He was in
Whakatāne with his partner at the time of the raids. In September 2011 most of the alleged terrorists originally arrested with Iti had all terrorism and firearms charges dropped. Iti and three others were charged with belonging to a criminal group. The trial was held in February and March 2012, and Iti was found guilty on six firearms charges. On the most substantial charge of belonging to a criminal group, the jury could not reach a verdict, even when invited by the judge to reach a majority verdict of ten to one. The Crown decided not to proceed with a second trial. Justice Rodney Hansen sentenced Iti to a two-and-a-half-year prison term on 24 May 2012. In October 2012 Iti and the three other defendants lost an appeal to the Court of Appeal against their sentences. Iti's son Wairere Iti said his father was "not overly surprised" by the outcome. Iti's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed. He was granted parole in February 2013, having served nine months of his sentence, and released from prison on the morning of 27 February 2013. Prison staff described him as a "role model prisoner". Iti said he enjoyed his time inside, working as a mechanic and working on his art and writing. ==Art==