On 16 January 2005 during a (or greeting ceremony) which formed part of a Waitangi Tribunal hearing, Iti fired a shotgun into a New Zealand flag in close proximity to a large number of people, which he explained was an attempt to recreate 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 incident was filmed by television crews but initially ignored by police. The matter was however raised in parliament, one opposition MP asking "why Tāme Iti can brandish a firearm and gloat about how he got away with threatening judges on the Waitangi Tribunal, without immediate arrest and prosecution".