Terrorist attack in NZ?

Christchurch Shooting Live Updates: 49 Are Dead After 2 Mosques Are Hit

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/world/asia/new-zealand-shooting-updates-christchurch.html

By The New York Times
March 14, 2019

Forty-nine people were killed in shootings at two mosques in central Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday, in a terrorist attack that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”

• Officials said that one man in his late 20s had been charged with murder, and that two explosive devices were found attached to a vehicle that they had stopped.

• A Muslim leader in New Zealand said the attack was especially shocking as it took place around Friday prayers. The police urged people to stay away from the mosques until further notice.

• A video and manifesto that appeared to be by a gunman involved in the shooting were posted online on the day of the attack.

Two mosques are attacked

Shots were fired at Al Noor Mosque on Deans Avenue in the center of the city, and at Linwood Mosque, about three miles away, the police said.

The country’s police commissioner, Mike Bush, said in an evening news conference that 41 people had been killed at Al Noor Mosque and seven at Linwood Mosque, and that a further victim had died at Christchurch Hospital.

The police said that four people, including three men and one woman, had been taken into custody. Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia said that one of them was Australian.

Mr. Bush said that a man in his late 20s had been charged with murder and would appear in Christchurch court on Saturday morning. A number of firearms were recovered from the scenes of the shootings, he said.

Of the three others who were arrested, the police commissioner said that one might have had nothing to do with the attack and that the police were working to determine how the other two might have been involved.

Ms. Ardern said earlier that none of those detained were on security watch lists.

Two explosive devices were found on one vehicle, Mr. Bush said, adding that the police had defused one and were in the process of defusing the other.

Mr. Bush had earlier urged people not to go to mosques anywhere in New Zealand on Friday. He also urged mosques nationally to “close your doors until you hear from us again.”

Video appears to show part of the shooting

A 17-minute video posted to social media appears to show part of the attack.

The clip, which may have been taken from a helmet camera worn by a gunman, begins behind the wheel of a car. A man, whose face can occasionally be seen in the rearview mirror, drives through the streets of Christchurch before pulling up in front of Al Noor Mosque, beside the sprawling Hagley Park.

He approaches the mosque on foot, his weapon visible, and begins shooting at people at the entrance. What follows is a harrowing nearly two minutes of his firing on the worshipers.

At one point, the gunman exits the mosque and fires in both directions down the sidewalk before returning to his car for another gun — which, like the others, was inscribed with numbers, symbols or messages. When he re-enters the mosque, he shoots several bodies at close range.

After another few minutes, he returns to his vehicle and drives away.

“There wasn’t even time to aim, there was so many targets,” he says at one point, as the sirens of an emergency response vehicle blare in the background.

A white-nationalist manifesto

Before the shooting, someone appearing to be the gunman posted links to a white-nationalist manifesto on Twitter and the online forum 8chan. The 8chan post included a link to what appeared to be the gunman’s Facebook page, where he said he would also broadcast live video of the attack.

In his manifesto, he identified himself as a 28-year-old man born in Australia and listed his white nationalist heroes.

Writing that he had purposely used guns to stir discord in the United States over the Second Amendment’s provision on the right to bear arms, he also declared himself a fascist. “For once, the person that will be called a fascist, is an actual fascist,” he wrote.

YouTube star ‘sickened’ by being cited in video

Felix Kjellberg, a polarizing YouTube celebrity known as PewDiePie, distanced himself from the attacks after the man who filmed himself shooting victims at a mosque encouraged viewers to “subscribe to PewDiePie” in a video livestream.

“I feel absolutely sickened having my name uttered by this person,” Mr. Kjellberg, a Swede, said on Twitter.

Mr. Kjellberg has courted controversy by performing anti-Semitic gestures, which he calls satirical, in his videos. He has a following of 89 million subscribers.

Scrutiny of social media postings

Over the last 18 months, tech companies have promised stronger safeguards to ensure that violent content is not distributed through their sites. But those new safeguards were not enough to stop the posting of a video and manifesto believed related to Friday’s shooting.

A 17-minute video that included graphic footage apparently of the shooting could be found on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram more than an hour after being posted. While Facebook and Twitter took down pages thought to be linked to the gunman, the posted content was spread rapidly through other accounts.

In order to evade detection, people appeared to be cropping the video or posting the text of the manifesto as an image — both of which are techniques used to evade automated systems that find and delete content.

Social media companies have heavily invested in those systems, with Facebook reporting last year that more than 99 percent of terrorism content by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda was found and removed through artificial intelligence.

A Facebook spokeswoman offered condolences to the victims and said the company was “removing any praise or support for the crime and the shooter or shooters as soon as we’re aware.”

An attack during Friday prayers

Moustafa Farouk, a spokesman for the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, said it was especially shocking that the attack occurred around Friday prayers.

Mr. Farouk, who said in a telephone interview that he was on his way to Christchurch to meet with Muslims there, said he had never imagined that an attack of this kind could happen in New Zealand.

“It’s one of the most peaceful countries in the world,” he added, although he said that “this kind of random act of violence will affect that image.”

‘One of New Zealand’s darkest days’

Ms. Ardern called Friday “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”

“What has happened here is an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence,” the prime minister said at a news conference in New Plymouth, describing the shooting as “an act that has absolutely no place in New Zealand.”

“Many of those affected may be migrants to New Zealand — they may even be refugees here,” Ms. Ardern said of the victims. “They are one of us. The person who has perpetrated these acts is not.”

Ibrar Sheikh, the secretary of the Al Mustafa Jamia Masjid in south Auckland, described the two mosques targeted in Christchurch as “a United Nations” of ethnicities.

‘My really good friend goes there’

Aman Singh, who works at a convenience store close to the Deans Avenue mosque, said he had heard the gunshots on Friday afternoon, and that shortly afterward people had streamed past the shop, bloody and crying.

Mr. Singh, 26, said he knew several people who worshiped at the mosque.

“My really good friend goes there,” he said, adding that he had not been able to confirm the friend’s whereabouts on Friday afternoon.

Mr. Singh, who moved to New Zealand from India four and a half years ago, was still hiding in the store with his wife, as the police had yet to arrive at their location.

He said they would be unlikely to be able to return home anyway, as their street was cordoned off because it was close to the Linwood Mosque that was also attacked.

Murders are rare in New Zealand, but guns aren’t

Murders are rare in New Zealand, and gun homicides even rarer. There were 35 murders countrywide in 2017. And since 2007, gun homicides have been in the single digits each year except 2009, when there were 11.

But there are plenty of guns.

There were 1.2 million registered firearms in the country of 4.6 million people in 2017, according to the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss nonprofit.

A mass shooting in the New Zealand in 1990 — when a man killed 13 people, including two 6-year-olds, after a dispute with his neighbor in the seaside town of Aramoana — led directly to tightened gun laws, including restrictions on “military style semiautomatic weapons.”

Gun owners must be licensed, a process that includes a review of criminal activity and mental health, attendance at a safety program, an explanation of how the gun would be used, a residence visit to ensure secure storage, and testimonials from relatives and friends.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/47580443

Bangladesh Cricket Team (currently on tour in NZ) got spared for a matter of mere minuted. Three Bangladeshi among those killed.

@Kick hope you are alright. Take care mate

"White supremacist terrorist terrorized Muslim civilian" was not an interesting story,
no wonder, only 1 reply here.

It's disgusting

Something similar happened in a city 3 hours from mine in 2017. Some bum enter a mosque and killed 6 people. Felt embarrassed because those people immigrate here as they want a better life for their family yet it ends in a blood bath because of a racist maniac.

But what else is there to say ? Anybody who has a spark of intelligence in their brain know terrorism is not a question of skin color or religion. It's a question of mental disease.

This guy said he was brain washed and radicalised after watching the news of the terrorist attacks in Europe. It’s good that we live in a world where we can get all the news and information we want but it sent this sick fuck on a killing spree. Let’s just hope all the news coverage this idiot gets don’t give ideas to more sickos.

Infact as soon as people have the information about the attack he should get no more news coverage. Tell people what he did and how much of a stupid sick fuck he is then stop the coverage on him don’t give him the publicity he wants. Lock him up forever and be done with him.

The attacker should get no coverage at all and be executed immediately. All these people want is fame and attention, shouldn't give em that.

I don't believe in any gods but my prayers go out to families of those who lost their life.

Fucking disgusting scumbag...what a terrible loss of life.

I've been so distracted over this today , I've barely worked. Really depressed me.

Here we have a peaceful town of fewer than 400k, and New Zealand's muslim population is 1.18% , fewer than Buddhists and Hindus, with almost ZERO history of islamic-inspired terrorism, and this POS goes and massacres 50 people, ruined 500 lives.

I watched the full video....it messed me up. I read some of his manifesto too...he basically admitted he wants to accelerate towards a tribal and civil war and for the world to basically burn down.

Is capital punishment allowed in NZ? I hope this guy gets the worst tortures in the world...I'm very pro- EXTREME torture when it comes to scumbags like this gutless terrorist.

50 people dead for nothing...500 lives (count families and relatives) ruined forever.

And we haven't even reached boiling point yet.....just wait until it's 2030ish and I predict this back and forth terror to be a weekly occurrence.

Just watched the full vid and wow...I honestly have no words. There was this one scene at the end of the vid that really made me sick to my stomach.

All the best to those affected by this tragedy.

Myesyats wrote:The attacker should get no coverage at all and be executed immediately. All these people want is fame and attention, shouldn't give em that.

I don't believe in any gods but my prayers go out to families of those who lost their life.

This should be what they do for any and all terrorist attacks or mass-murders, where the perps are seeking fame like you say. Make it illegal to release their names (punishable) and just execute them within a week or after concluding a speedy investigation.

Didn't expect to see this somewhere like NZ. Thoughts and prayers with those affected by this tragedy.

Where do you live @Warrior?

NZ is the last place where you would expect such things. I mean the worst I heard about NZ is some stranded whales.

It's as if the fanatics are mopping-up the few remaining pockets of sanity.

Have you guys heard from Kick?

Horrible attack.

Just hope we don't have two leading world religious groups going against each other.

But call me racist, inhumane, etc. It was coming, till when was radical Islam getting away with their attacks without response. Every offense brews another offense, and I hope its not bad as i think.

Can we just have peace?

Of New Zealand i only know about their beautiful landscapes and i'm vaguely aware of the maori rugby tradition. Always assumed it was a peaceful place, apparently it is btw. A terrorism tragedy can happen anywhere.

I'm from Canada @iftikhar here's the event i talked about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City_mosque_shooting
who would think it happens here ? but it does happen because we have maniacs too. And mental health issues in our society.
I see another (absurd) reason, because from internet some persons get angry about elsewhere's problems and develop hate from it. Just a hate of the difference. Muslim citizens don't cause trouble in particular, nothing to justify the hate.

Firenze wrote:

Myesyats wrote:The attacker should get no coverage at all and be executed immediately. All these people want is fame and attention, shouldn't give em that.

I don't believe in any gods but my prayers go out to families of those who lost their life.

This should be what they do for any and all terrorist attacks or mass-murders, where the perps are seeking fame like you say. Make it illegal to release their names (punishable) and just execute them within a week or after concluding a speedy investigation.

Didn't expect to see this somewhere like NZ. Thoughts and prayers with those affected by this tragedy.

It's crazy man. They're showing pictures of him, saying his name, giving the exact number of casualties over and over (which is what he wants because those people treat this like a game & who 'scores the most'), they're showing his pictures as a kid, describing his brother as well I believe.

They're giving him attention he never got as a child & adult because he's a piece of trash. Exactly what he wants.

Lost for words.

and I'm definitively not going to watch any video

fucking pervert fuck can get the fuck out

Nishankly wrote:Horrible attack.

Just hope we don't have two leading world religious groups going against each other.

But call me racist, inhumane, etc. It was coming, till when was radical Islam getting away with their attacks without response. Every offense brews another offense, and I hope its not bad as i think.

Can we just have peace?

I disagree mate. But then again, it's our tendency/obsession/impulse for rationale/revenge that has landed us in this shit hole.

Fact is, when the world is led/dominated by maniacs in (almost) every conceivable corners, such atrocities will remain the norm. The proxy-wars that hid behind Socialism/Democracy till the fall of Berlin Wall/Communist Block/USSR have just taken the new host of Religion/Nationalism. Social Media and IT has only allowed micro-entities to operate at individual level.

Hapless_Hans wrote:Lost for words.

and I'm definitively not going to watch any video

i used to have sadistic curiosity as a teenager

When the Daesh started to cut people throats i have an overdose of that bs, absolutely nothing to gain from watching that. Now it sickens me to see and hear about violence all the time, sincerely some days it ruins my morale, after tragedies like yesterday for example. I wish everybody could LIVE AND LET OTHERS LIVE so i can see a positive world before i die, sadly the tendency it not leaning towards that.

iftikhar wrote:

Nishankly wrote:Horrible attack.

Just hope we don't have two leading world religious groups going against each other.

But call me racist, inhumane, etc. It was coming, till when was radical Islam getting away with their attacks without response. Every offense brews another offense, and I hope its not bad as i think.

Can we just have peace?

I disagree mate. But then again, it's our tendency/obsession/impulse for rationale/revenge that has landed us in this shit hole.

Fact is, when the world is led/dominated by maniacs in (almost) every conceivable corners, such atrocities will remain the norm. The proxy-wars that hid behind Socialism/Democracy till the fall of Berlin Wall/Communist Block/USSR have just taken the new host of Religion/Nationalism. Social Media and IT has only allowed micro-entities to operate at individual level.

Exactly what i am worried about mate. Never ending cycle of religious violence against innocents.

Absolutely horrible.

@Casciavit and @Zagadka (or anyone else really): why did you watch the video? I'm staying as far away from that as I can.

Same. Those images would haunt me forever.

I want all gun violence I see to be fiction, I won't watch anything with real gun violence. Very difficult to watch

I have a hard time watching these incidents in movie. My whole week will be ruined if I watch them for real.

Good they've not been shared as much on mainstream sites as the gaming tournament in the US, where there was a shooter. That tragedy was everywhere on my twitter feed when it happened.

In movies, those kind of scenes are very much misrepresented and brushed.

In real life, the screams and gore is really hunting. Something you cannot unsee.

Myesyats wrote:In movies, those kind of scenes are very much misrepresented and brushed.

In real life, the screams and gore is really hunting. Something you cannot unsee.

I wouldn't say Elephant is a misrepresentation.
Also the Norwegian Utøya film was absolutely haunting. The real life element of it probably had a lot to do with it. It was also a movie about the tragedy in real time where you never see the shooter. Kind of like an VR version where you get to experience being a victim yourself.

Traumatic film that helps empathising with victims because you get to feel a fraction of the terror they must have felt.

Horrific and devastating.

I wish I didn't watch the video. It's gonna haunt me for a while. There's absolutely nothing those poor people could have done to save themselves. This despicable vermin was making sure everyone was dead as he was popping headshots over every fallen body.

If you haven't seen it, i would recommend not watching.

hope our main man kick is ok. hes not been on the forum since it happand. kick let us know you are ok man