Christchurch mosque shootings

Tarrant arrived at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton and began shooting worshippers at around 1:40 pm. Police received the first emergency call at 1:41 pm.[53] Approximately 190 people, mostly men, were inside the mosque attending Friday prayer at the time of the shooting.[15][54]

Tarrant live-streamed the first 17 minutes of his attack on Facebook Live, starting with the drive to the Al Noor mosque and ending as he drove away from the mosque.[55] Moments before the shooting, he played several songs, including "The British Grenadiers", a traditional British military marching song; and "Remove Kebab", a Serb nationalist and anti-Muslim propaganda music video cheering Radovan Karadžić, who was found guilty in 2016 of genocide against Bosnian Muslims by the ICTY.[56][57][58] He also continued to play "military music" inside the mosque from a portable audio speaker attached to the front of a tactical vest he was wearing.[15][59] As he approached the front entrance to the mosque, Tarrant appeared to be greeted by one of the worshippers, who said "Hello, brother" and was the first victim to be killed in the attack.[60][61][62][63]

Tarrant spent several minutes inside the mosque, shooting attendees indiscriminately. He first fired nine shots from a semiautomatic shotgun towards the front entrance before dropping it. He then began using an AR-15 style rifle and opened fire on people inside. He killed four men near the entrance and dozens more inside a prayer hall. A strobe-light attached to one of his weapons was used to disorient victims.[15][64] During the attack, a worshipper, Naeem Rashid, charged at him and was shot; Rashid later died from his injuries.[65][66][67][68]

Tarrant fired indiscriminately at worshippers in the prayer hall from close range, shooting many of his victims multiple times. He then left the mosque and fired on more people outside, killing a man. Returning to his vehicle, he retrieved another weapon before heading to the mosque's car park and shot several people fleeing or hiding there. He then reentered the mosque and opened fire again on people who were already wounded in the prayer hall and unable to escape. Afterwards, Tarrant exited the mosque once more and killed a woman lying wounded on the footpath as she pleaded for help. He then returned to his car, which had been parked in a neighbouring driveway, and fled the scene[15][61][69] to the music of "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown,[70][71][72] in which the singer proclaims, "I am the god of hellfire!"[73][74][75] He fired at people from the driver's seat who were in cars and on foot as he fled, which left bullet holes in his windscreen and the passenger window of his car smashed.[15][76] Tarrant had been planning to set fire to the mosque, as stated when he drove away to the Linwood Islamic Centre: "It was too quick. I should've stayed longer. There was more time for the fuel."[77] He had four modified petrol containers in his car, which were intended as incendiary devices.[15] A neighbour of the mosque told reporters he saw Tarrant flee and drop what appeared to be a firearm in the driveway.[78]

Tarrant had spent a total of about five minutes at the Al Noor Mosque.[79][76] At 1:46 pm, as he drove away from the mosque, the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) arrived near the scene. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said at this point he was already leaving the area, his car hidden by a bus. At this time, AOS members did not know how many shooters there were and were not informed that the offender had left the mosque. At 1:51 pm, first responders arrived at the Al Noor Mosque.[80] About three minutes after Tarrant left the mosque, his vehicle passed by one or more police vehicles responding to the shooting. However, he remained undetected by police as he continued on his way eastwards on Bealey Ave to the Linwood Islamic Centre, driving at speeds up to 150 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, weaving in and out traffic, driving on the wrong side of the road and up onto the grass median strip.[76][79][81][82][83] As Tarrant drove to the Linwood Islamic Centre, reports came in from the public of a vehicle driving "erratically" along Bealey Ave.[84] Tarrant, on two occasions, also unsuccessfully tried to shoot the driver of a car next to him.[76] At 1:51 pm, one minute before he reached the Linwood Islamic Centre, the livestream abruptly ended. However, the GoPro device attached to his helmet that was recording footage was still active and continued to record until Tarrant was apprehended by police eight minutes later.[76]

Linwood Islamic Centre, March 2020. At the time of the shootings, there was a building at the front of the section and access was along a driveway to the left.

A second attack began at 1:52 pm[8] at the Linwood Islamic Centre,[85][86] a mosque 5 kilometres (3 mi) east of the Al Noor Mosque in Linwood.[61] Tarrant parked his vehicle on the mosque's driveway, preventing other cars from entering or leaving.[15] According to a witness, Tarrant was initially unable to find the mosque's main door, instead shooting people outside and through a window, killing four and alerting those inside. About 100 people were inside the mosque at the time, and had not been alerted to the attack at Al Noor.[76][15][87]

The mosque's acting imam credited a worshipper named Abdul Aziz Wahabzada with stopping the attack.[88][89][90][91] Wahabzada told reporters he had taken a credit card reader and ran out of the mosque, by which time Tarrant outside had already shot several people. Tarrant was about to retrieve another gun from his car, so Wahabzada threw the reader at him. Tarrant took a rifle from his car and fired at Wahabzada, who took cover among nearby cars and retrieved an empty shotgun Tarrant had dropped. Despite Wahabzada's attempt to draw Tarrant's attention away from the mosque by shouting "I'm here!", he entered the mosque and continued firing in a prayer hall, killing an additional three people. When Tarrant returned to his car again, Wahabzada threw the shotgun at the car, shattering the left rear window. Tarrant then drove away from the mosque at 1:55 pm,[8][15][88][89][90][92] and a minute later, a member of the public waved down a police car to report shots had been fired in Linwood.[8]

At 1:59 pm, police arrived at the Linwood Islamic Centre, the same minute Tarrant was arrested on Brougham Street.[8]

Early reports indicated "multiple, simultaneous attack[s]",[93] but later, only a single suspect, Tarrant, was implicated.[94][95] A silver Subaru Outback[96] matching the description of Tarrant's vehicle was seen by a police unit and a pursuit was initiated at 1:57 pm. Tarrant was arrested on Brougham Street in Sydenham at 1:59 pm, 18 minutes after the first emergency call.[97] Video footage taken by an onlooker showed his car had been rammed against the kerb by a police car before his arrest at gunpoint.[98][99]

The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, said Tarrant had been planning to continue the attacks at a third location,[100] later identified as the mosque in Ashburton, 90 km (56 mi) southwest of Christchurch.[15] According to Ardern, "There were two other firearms in the vehicle that the offender was in and it absolutely was his intention to continue with his attack".[101] Police Commissioner Mike Bush corroborated this, saying police had stopped Tarrant on his way to a third location.[102] The arresting officers were rural-based police who were coincidentally in Christchurch to attend a training session on dealing with armed offenders.[103]

Tarrant began expressing racist ideas from a young age and reportedly started using the controversial 4chan internet forum at the age of 14.[40] From 2012 onward, he visited a number of countries in Asia and Europe, using the money he inherited from his father. He always travelled alone, with the exception of a trip to North Korea. Police in Bulgaria and Turkey investigated Tarrant's visits to their countries.[40][127][137][138] Security officials suspected he had come into contact with far-right organisations about two years before the shooting, while visiting European nations.[139] He donated €1,500 to Identitäre Bewegung Österreich (IBÖ), the Austrian branch of Generation Identity (part of the Identitarian movement) in Europe, as well as €2,200 to Génération Identitaire, the French branch of the group, and interacted with IBÖ leader Martin Sellner via email between January 2018 and July 2018, offering to meet in Vienna and a linking to his YouTube channel.[140][141][142]

Captivated with sites of battles between Christian European nations and the Ottoman Empire, Tarrant went on another series of visits to the Balkans from 2016 to 2018, with Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina confirming his presence there in these years.[143] He posted Balkan nationalist material on social media platforms,[144] and called for the United States to be weakened in order to prevent events such as the NATO intervention in Kosovo in support of Muslim Albanians against Christian Serbs.[57][143][145] He said he was against intervention by NATO because he saw the Serbian military as "Christian Europeans attempting to remove these Islamic occupiers from Europe".[57][145] By June 2016, relatives noted a change in Tarrant's personality, which he claimed was the result of a mugging incident in Ethiopia, and his mother had expressed concern for his mental health.[40]

In 2016, three years prior to the attacks, Tarrant praised Blair Cottrell as a leader of the far-right movements in Australia and made more than 30 comments on the now-deleted "United Patriots Front" and "True Blue Crew" web pages. An Australian Broadcasting Corporation team who studied the comments called them "fragments and digital impressions of a well-travelled young man who frequented hate-filled anonymous messaging boards and was deeply engaged in a global alt-right culture."[146] A Melbourne man said that in 2016, he filed a police complaint after Tarrant allegedly told him in an online conversation, "I hope one day you meet the rope". He said that the police told him to block Tarrant and did not take a statement from him. The police said that they were unable to locate a complaint.[147]

Tarrant claimed that he is racist but not xenophobic. He is thought to have become obsessed with terrorist attacks committed by Islamic extremists in 2016 and 2017, started planning an attack about two years prior to the shootings, and chosen his targets three months in advance.[148] He admitted that he is a fascist. He expressed his hopes to create a "gun conflict" in the United States over gun ownership.[148] After his arrest, Tarrant told investigators that he frequented right-wing discussion boards on 4chan and 8chan, and he also found YouTube as "a significant source of information and inspiration."[40]

Police recovered six guns: two AR-15 style rifles (one manufactured by Windham Weaponry and the other by Ruger), two 12-gauge shotguns (a semiautomatic Mossberg 930 and a pump-action Ranger 870), and two other rifles (a .357 Magnum Uberti lever-action rifle, and a .223-caliber Mossberg Predator bolt-action rifle). They were all purchased between December 2017 and March 2019, along with more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition.[15] Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Tarrant held a firearms licence with an "A" endorsement,[149] and he started buying his arsenal a month after acquiring his licence. According to a city gun store, Tarrant bought four firearms and ammunition online.[150] The shop said none of the four were military-style weapons, and it is not known if these guns were the ones used in the attacks. The shop did not detect anything unusual or extraordinary about the customer.[151] Additionally, he illegally[152] replaced the semi-automatic rifles' small, legal magazines with 30-round magazines purchased online,[153][154] and the triggers of some of the firearms were modified so he could fire them more quickly.[15]

According to Stuff, Tarrant was wrongly granted a firearms licence due to police failures. Sources said that police failed to interview a family member as required for obtaining a firearms licence, instead interviewing two men that Tarrant had met through an online chatroom. In the days after the attacks, the police had quashed concerns that Tarrant had obtained the weapons inappropriately. Police have not given comment to this allegation, saying they do not wish to interfere with the ongoing inquiry into the event.[155]

The guns and magazines used were covered in white writing naming historical events, people, and motifs related to historical conflicts, wars, and battles between Muslims and European Christians,[57][145][156][157] as well as the names of recent Islamic terrorist attack victims and the names of far-right attackers.[158] The markings also included references to "Turkofagos" (Turk eater), a term used by Greeks during the Greek War of Independence and white supremacist slogans such as the anti-Muslim phrase "Remove Kebab" that originated from Serbia and the Fourteen Words.[57][156][157] Apart from the Latin alphabet, writings on the weaponry were in the Cyrillic, Armenian and Georgian alphabets.[156] The writings were names dedicated to historic individuals that fought against Muslim forces. On his pack was a Black Sun patch, and two dog tags: one with a Celtic cross, and one with a Slavic swastika design.[159] Police also found two improvised explosive devices attached to a car; these were defused by the New Zealand Defence Force.[160] No explosives were found on the gunman.[161]

Tarrant claims to be the author of a 74-page manifesto titled "The Great Replacement", a reference to the "Great Replacement" and "white genocide" conspiracy theories.[162][163] It said that the attacks were planned two years prior, and the location was selected three months prior.[164] Minutes before the attacks began, the manifesto was emailed to more than 30 recipients, including the prime minister's office and several media outlets,[165] and links were shared on Twitter and 8chan.[166][167]

In the manifesto several anti-immigrant sentiments are expressed, including hate speech against migrants, white supremacist rhetoric, and calls for all non-European immigrants in Europe who are claimed to be "invading his land" to be removed.[168] The manifesto displays neo-Nazi symbols such as the Black Sun and the Odin's cross. However, the author denies being a Nazi,[169] describing himself instead as an "ethno-nationalist",[145][170][171] an "eco-fascist",[172][173][174][175] and a "kebab removalist", in reference to a meme exalting the genocide of Bosnian Muslims that occurred during the Bosnian War.[176] The author cites Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik and others as an inspiration. The author says he originally targeted the Al Huda Mosque in Dunedin, but changed his mind after visiting Christchurch, because the Christchurch mosques contained "more adults and a prior history of extremism".[177][178] In 2014 and 2015, local press reported an allegation that a congregation member had been radicalised at the mosque.[179][180][181]

The manifesto was described by some media outlets as "shitposting"—trolling designed to engender conflict between certain groups and people.[182][183][184] Readers of the manifesto described it as containing deliberately provocative and absurd statements, such as sarcastically claiming to have been turned into a killer by playing violent video games.[185][186][187] On 23 March 2019, the manifesto was deemed "objectionable" by the Chief Censor of New Zealand, making it unlawful to possess or distribute it in New Zealand.[188] In August 2019, The New Zealand Herald reported that printed copies of the manifesto were being sold online outside New Zealand, something New Zealand law could not prevent.[189]

Genocide scholar A. Dirk Moses analyzed the manifesto, concluding that "Tarrant's words yield insights into the subjectivity of genocidaires more generally, namely that they commit terrorist acts with genocidal intent as – in their own mind – preventative self-defence; not as acts of aggression but, as he writes, 'a partisan action against an occupying force'". According to Moses, it is hypocritical for Tarrant to complain about supposed "white genocide" from immigration without recognizing that he himself comes from a settler colony that resulted from what Moses characterizes as genocide against the indigenous peoples of Australia.[190]

Tarrant appeared in the Christchurch District Court on 16 March, where he was charged with one count of murder.[191] The judge ordered the courtroom closed to the public except for accredited media, and allowed the accused to be filmed and photographed on the condition that his face be pixellated.[192] In court, Tarrant smiled at reporters and made an inverted OK gesture below his waist, said to be a "white power" sign.[193]

The case was transferred to the High Court and he was remanded in custody, as his lawyer did not seek bail.[194] He was subsequently transferred to the country's only maximum-security unit at Auckland Prison.[195] He has lodged a formal complaint regarding his prison conditions, on the grounds that he has no access to newspapers, television, Internet, visitors or phone calls.[196] On 4 April, police announced they had increased the total number of charges to 89, 50 for murder and 39 for attempted murder, with other charges still under consideration.[197] At the next hearing on 5 April, he was ordered by the judge to undergo a psychiatric assessment of his mental fitness to stand trial.[198]

On 21 May 2019, Commissioner Bush announced that a new charge of engaging in a terrorist act had been laid against Tarrant under section 6A of the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002. One murder charge and one attempted murder charge were also added, bringing the total to 51 and 40 respectively.[199]

On 14 June 2019, Tarrant appeared at the Christchurch High Court via audio-visual link from Auckland Prison. Through his lawyer, he pleaded not guilty to engaging in a terrorist act, 51 counts of murder, and 40 counts of attempted murder. Mental health assessments had indicated no issues regarding his fitness to plead or stand trial. The trial start date was set for 4 May 2020; the Crown prosecutor estimated the trial would last around six weeks.[24] On 12 September 2019, the trial date was pushed back to 2 June 2020, to avoid coinciding with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.[200]

On 14 August 2019, it was reported that Tarrant had been able to send seven letters from prison, two to his mother and five to unnamed recipients. One of these letters was subsequently posted on the Internet message boards 4chan and 8chan by a recipient. Minister of Corrections Kelvin Davis and the Department of Corrections were criticised for allowing the distribution of these letters.[201][202][203] On 19 August, Prime Minister Ardern announced that the Government would explore amending the Corrections Act 2004 to further restrict what mail can be received and sent by prisoners.[204][205]

On 26 March 2020, Tarrant appeared at the Christchurch High Court via audio-visual link from Auckland Prison. During the appearance, he pleaded guilty to all 92 charges: one of engaging in a terrorist act, 51 of murder, and 40 of attempted murder. Due to the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, the general public was barred from the hearing; however, media representatives and representatives for the Al-Noor and Linwood mosques were present in the courtroom.[206] According to media reports, Tarrant's lawyers Shane Tait and Jonathan Hudson had informed the courts that Tarrant was considering changing his plea. On 25 March, Tarrant issued his lawyers with formal written instructions confirming that he wanted to change his pleas to guilty. In response, court authorities began making arrangements for the case to be called as soon as possible in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown.[207][208] The judge convicted Tarrant on all charges and remanded him in custody to await sentencing.

On 10 July, the government announced that overseas-based victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings would receive border exemptions and financial help in order to fly to New Zealand for the duration of Tarrant's sentencing.[209] On 13 July, it was reported that Tarrant had dismissed his lawyers and would be representing himself during sentencing proceedings.[210][211]

Armed police outside the entrance to the Christchurch courthouse on 24 August 2020, the first day of sentencing.

Sentencing began on 24 August 2020 before Justice Cameron Mander at the Christchurch High Court.[212] Capacity in the main courtroom was limited to comply with social distancing requirements of COVID-19 alert level 2, with the proceedings livestreamed to seven other courtrooms to accommodate victims and media. In addition, the sentencing proceedings were livestreamed to people at home who were unable to attend the proceedings in person.[213] Extra security was implemented at the Christchurch courthouse; roads around the precinct were closed, armed police including police dogs and snipers were deployed, and non-urgent court business was suspended. Tarrant was flown from Auckland to Christchurch aboard an RNZAF C-130 Hercules, and held in the court cells to mitigate the risk of him being attacked on the 19 km (12 mi) journey between the courthouse and Christchurch Men's Prison.[214]

During the sentencing phase, the Crown prosecutors read the statement of facts to the court, showing how Tarrant had meticulously planned the two mosque shootings as well as more attacks.[215][216] Numerous survivors of the mosque shooting and their relatives gave victim impact statements, which were covered by national and international media. Tarrant remained mostly unemotional and expressionless during these victim impact statements, except for certain moments such as when he smiled when Abreem Naeem, a widow of a victim, called Tarrant a loser.[217][218][219][220]

On 27 August 2020, the day of sentencing, Philip Hall QC, who had been appointed as Tarrant's standby counsel, said that his only instruction from Tarrant was that he did "not oppose the application that he should be sentenced to the term of life without parole". Justice Mander gave Tarrant the opportunity to address the court, however Tarrant replied, "No, thank you".[221][222] Justice Mander sentenced Tarrant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for each of the 51 murders.[28] He was also sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of engaging in a terrorist act and 40 attempted murder charges.[27] It was the first time that life imprisonment without parole, the maximum sentence available in New Zealand, had been imposed.[note 1] In his sentencing remarks, Justice Mander said Tarrant's crimes "are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die, it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation."[27][29]

Following the sentencing, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters called for Tarrant to serve his sentence in Australia in order to avoid New Zealand having to pay the costs for his life imprisonment. The cost of housing Tarrant in prison was estimated at NZ$4,930 per day,[224] compared to an average cost of $338 per sentenced prisoner per day.[225] Peters's remarks were also motivated by Australia's policy of deporting New Zealand citizens who had committed crimes or breached character requirements. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said there is currently no legal basis for extradition and that respecting the wishes of his victims and their relatives would be paramount. Justice Minister Andrew Little said Parliament would need to pass a law to deport Tarrant to Australia. University of Otago law professor Dr Andrew Geddis said it was "legally impossible" under New Zealand law to deport Tarrant to Australia to serve his sentence. Other New Zealand politicians including Leader of the Opposition and National Party leader Judith Collins, fellow National MP Simon Bridges, Greens co-leader James Shaw, and ACT Party leader David Seymour welcomed Tarrant's life sentence. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also welcomed Tarrant's life sentence, saying Australians were horrified by Tarrant's "despicable act" and regarded New Zealand as "family".[226][227] On 28 August, Morrison and the Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton advised that while no formal request had been made by the New Zealand Government to repatriate Tarrant to Australia and for him to serve his life sentence in an Australian correctional facility, the Australian Government was open to considering a request.[228]

In April 2019, police released a final timeline of the event.[229] It said police were at the first scene within minutes of the incident being reported at 1:41 pm.[8] It was initially understood that the arrest had taken 36 minutes, but it was later clarified that it had taken 18 minutes.[8][230] In response to criticism that police were too slow to react, District Commander John Price said: "That is an incredibly fast response time. You had a mobile offender across a large metropolitan city."[231]

St. John Ambulance sent 20 ambulances and other vehicles to the mosques.[232] Most of the wounded were taken to Christchurch Hospital. Forty-eight people with gunshot wounds, including young children, were treated at the hospital,[233][234] with some taken to other hospitals within Christchurch and nationally.[235] Canterbury District Health Board activated its mass-casualty plan.[233] Paramedics describe a 'river of blood' coming out of the mosque[236] and having to step over bodies to collect the wounded.[237]

Police advised all mosques in the country to close until further notice, and sent officers to secure various sites in Christchurch.[238] All Air New Zealand Link services departing from Christchurch Airport were cancelled as a precaution, due to the absence of security screening at the regional terminal.[239][240] Security was increased at Parliament, and public tours of the buildings were cancelled.[241] In Dunedin, the Armed Offenders Squad searched a house, later reported to have been rented by the gunman,[242][243] and cordoned off part of the surrounding street in Andersons Bay because Tarrant had indicated on social media that he had originally planned to target the Al Huda Mosque in that city.[244][245]

For the first time in New Zealand history, the terrorism threat level was raised to high.[246] Prime Minister Ardern called the incident an "act of extreme and unprecedented violence" on "one of New Zealand's darkest days".[247][248][249] She described it as a "well-planned" terrorist attack.[235] She said she would render the person accused of the attacks "nameless" and urged the public to speak the victims' names instead.[250] A meeting of the Officials Committee for Domestic and External Security Co-ordination was convened to coordinate the government's response.[251] Ardern, who had just left a school climate-strike rally in New Plymouth,[252] returned to her hotel along with the Minister for Security and Intelligence, Andrew Little, to give a press statement. Ardern cancelled her remaining public engagements scheduled for that day, including opening the WOMAD international arts festival.[253] She then boarded an RNZAF plane to fly to Wellington to join official meetings taking place at the Beehive.[254] Ardern issued a directive that flags on "all Government and public buildings" should be flown at half-mast until further notice.[255]

In May 2019, the NZ Transport Authority offered to replace any vehicle number plates with the prefix "GUN" (issued in 2013) on request, although they were not withdrawn.[256]

In mid-October 2019, Prime Minister Ardern awarded bravery awards to the two police officers who had apprehended the shooter Tarrant at the annual Police Association Conference in Wellington. Due to the legal proceedings against Tarrant, the two officers had interim name suppression, but in December 2019 this was lifted.[257][258][259]

On 1 September 2020, Prime Minister Ardern designated Tarrant as a terrorist entity, explaining, "This entity freezes all his assets and also makes it a criminal offence for anyone to support the shooter financially, and ensures the offender cannot be involved in the financing of terrorism in the future".[260]

Cabinet agreed to hold an inquiry into the attacks, and announced on 25 March that it would take the form of a royal commission of inquiry.[37] Little told Radio New Zealand, "I have given authority to the agencies to do intrusive activities under warrant, the number of those (warrants) I'm not at liberty to disclose."[261] He said that the intelligence services usually put 30 to 40 people under monitoring at a time. Although more people than usual were being monitored, he was not willing to reveal how many. He also said the operations could be anything from physical surveillance to watching telecommunications activity.[262]

On 8 April 2019, Prime Minister Ardern confirmed the terms of reference for the royal commission of inquiry, and announced that Supreme Court justice Sir William Young would chair the inquiry.[263]

On 26 November 2020, the Royal Commission formally presented its 792-page report to the government.[39] This report was made public on 8 December. Though it acknowledged there were no signs an attack in New Zealand was imminent at the time, it highlighted failures by the police system to properly vet gun purchases, as well as the country's intelligence services' strong focus on Islamic extremism at the expense of other potential threats such as white supremacy. The report also made 44 recommendations, including the establishment of a new national intelligence agency specializing in counterterrorism strategies. After the report's recommendations were made public, Ardern said the government has agreed to implement all of them.[40][264][265][266] The report also found that YouTube had radicalized the shooter.[267][268]

Patsy Reddy laying flowers at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens on 19 March

Within an hour of the attack, all schools in the city were placed in "lockdown".[269][270] A ministry report launched after the attacks said schools' handling of the events were varied: some schoolchildren in lockdown still had their mobile phones and some were able to view the footage of the first attack online, meanwhile some schools had children "commando crawl" to the bathroom under teacher supervision.[271][272] Student climate strikers at the global School Strike for the Climate rally in Cathedral Square, near the sites of the attacks, were advised by police either to seek refuge in public buildings or go home.[273][274] The citywide lockdown lasted nearly 3 hours.[271]

In response to security concerns, the University of Otago postponed its sesquicentennial street parade which had been scheduled for 16 March.[244][245]

The third Test cricket match between New Zealand and Bangladesh, scheduled to commence at Hagley Oval in Hagley Park on 16 March, was likewise cancelled due to security concerns.[275] The Bangladesh team were planning to attend Friday prayer at the Al Noor Mosque, and were moments from entering the building when the incident began.[276][277] The players then fled on foot to Hagley Oval.[278] Two days later, Canterbury withdrew from their match against Wellington in the Plunket Shield cricket tournament.[279] Likewise the Super Rugby match between the Crusaders, based in Christchurch, and Highlanders, based in Dunedin, due to be played the next day was cancelled as "a mark of respect for the events".[280] After the attacks, there were renewed calls to rename the Crusaders team, since its name derives from the medieval Crusades against Muslims.[281][282]

Vigil in Wellington for the victims of the attack

Canadian rock singer-songwriter Bryan Adams and American thrash metal band Slayer both cancelled their concerts that were scheduled to be held in Christchurch on 17 March, two days after the shootings.[283] The Polynesian cultural festival Polyfest was cancelled after the shootings, with security concerns cited as the reason.[284] The music and cultural festival WOMAD went ahead in New Plymouth despite the attacks, with armed police stationed around the festival perimeter, inside the event, and outside artists' hotels.[285]

The mosques involved in the attacks, and others around the country and the world, became the focus of vigils, messages, and floral tributes.[286][287][288][289] The mayor of Christchurch, Lianne Dalziel, encouraged people to lay flowers outside the city's Botanic Gardens.[290] As a mark of sympathy and solidarity, school pupils and other groups performed haka and waiata to honour those killed in the attacks.[291][292] Street gangs including the Mongrel Mob, Black Power, and the King Cobras sent members to mosques around the country to help protect them during prayer time.[293][294][295] One week after the attacks, an open-air Friday prayer service was held in Hagley Park. Broadcast nationally on radio and television, it was attended by 20,000 people, including Ardern,[296][297][298] who said "New Zealand mourns with you. We are one." The imam of the Al Noor Mosque thanked New Zealanders for their support and added, "We are broken-hearted but we are not broken."[299] A national remembrance service was held on 29 March, a fortnight after the attacks.[300]

Shortly after the attack, New Zealand Police launched Operation Whakahaumanu. The operation was designed to reassure New Zealanders after the attack and to also investigate possible threats who shared a similar ideology to the gunman. Police increased visibility in streets and visited many schools, businesses, and religious places as part of the operation. In Canterbury alone, there were almost 600 people of interest to police, where hundreds of properties were searched. On 14 July 2020, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) deemed three of these searches to be unlawful.[301]

An online fundraiser on the fundraising website "Givealittle" started to support victims and their families had, as of August 2020, raised over NZ$10,903,966 .[302][303] Counting other fundraisers, a combined total of $8.4 million had been raised for the victims and their families (as of 20 March 2019).[304] Prime Minister Ardern reiterated that those injured or killed in the shootings and their immediate families are covered by the country's accident-compensation scheme, ACC, which offers compensation for lost income and a $10,000 funeral grant, among other benefits.[305][306]

In late June, it was reported that the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh had raised more than NZ$967,500 (US$650,000) through its New Zealand Islamophobia Attack Fund for the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings. This amount included $60,000 raised by Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation. These funds will be donated to the Christchurch Foundation, a registered charity which has been receiving money to support victims of the Christchurch shootings. This philanthropy was inspired by local Muslim support for the Pittsburgh Jewish community following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in late October 2018.[307][308][309]

Vigil in Melbourne, Australia

On 15 May 2019, Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron co-hosted the Christchurch Call summit in Paris,[310][311] which called for major technology companies to step up their efforts to combat violent extremism.[312] The accord's founding signatory nations were Australia, Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In addition, the technology companies Amazon, DailyMotion, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Qwant, Twitter and YouTube also signed.[313]

Police arrested four people on 15 March in relation to the attacks,[314][269][246] including a woman and a man, after finding a firearm in a vehicle in which they were travelling together.[315] The woman was released uncharged, but the man was held in custody and was charged with a firearms offence.[316] Additionally, a 30-year-old man said he was arrested when he arrived, unarmed, at Papanui High School to pick up his 13-year-old brother-in-law. He was in camouflage clothing, which he said he habitually wore.[317] He said police gave him a verbal warning for disorderly behaviour.[318] He is seeking compensation for a wrongful arrest. The actions were defended by police, who mentioned the threat level after the massacre and that they had to deal with reports possibly related to the attacks.[317]

On 18 March 2019, the Australian Federal Police's NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team conducted raids on the homes of Tarrant's sister and mother near Coffs Harbour and Maclean in New South Wales. These raids were carried out by Australian Police to assist New Zealand Police with their investigation into the shootings. Tarrant's sister and mother reportedly cooperated with Australian police.[319][320]

A 24-year-old man from Oldham, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom was arrested on 16 March for sending Facebook posts in support of the shootings.[321][322]

On 20 March, an employee for Transguard, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, was fired by his company and deported for making comments supporting the shootings.[323][324]

In Canada, neo-Nazis Paul Fromm and Kevin Goudreau were put under investigation after the former shared the shooter's manifesto on the website of his organisation Canadian Association for Free Expression.[325][326]

Thomas Alan Bolin, a 22-year-old self-described "Folk Odinist" and founder of a Facebook group known as Odin's Warriors, and his cousin Austin Witkowski attempted to commit a copycat attack in Baltimore, Maryland. Under the aliases "Peter Vincent" and "Ragnar Odinson", the duo sent threatening messages on Facebook Messenger and planned to buy food, ammunition, and firearms in preparation for a similar attack. Bolin also praised the shooter's live-stream and manifesto, saying "Brugh dude killed 40 Muslims". Bolin was later convicted of lying to the FBI for claiming he did not possess any firearms.[327]

Nine days after the attack, a mosque in Escondido, California, was set on fire. Police found graffiti on the mosque's driveway that referenced the Christchurch shootings, leading them to investigate the fire as a terrorist attack.[328][329] A mass shooting later took place at a synagogue in nearby Poway on 27 April 2019, killing one person and injuring three others. The suspect in the shooting, John T. Earnest, also claimed responsibility for the fire and praised the Christchurch shootings in a manifesto. He and Tarrant were said to have been radicalised on 8chan's /pol/ discussion board.[330]

On 3 August 2019, Patrick Crusius killed 23 people and injured 23 others in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. In a manifesto posted to 8chan's /pol/ board, he expressed support for and inspiration from the Christchurch shootings.[331][332]

On 10 August 2019, Philip Manshaus tried to attack a mosque in Bærum, Norway, and livestream it on Facebook. He referred to Tarrant as a saint online and posted an image depicting Tarrant, Crusius, and Earnest as "heroes".[333]

On 27 January 2021, the Singaporean Internal Security Department reported it had arrested a 16-year old Protestant Indian youth under the Internal Security Act for plotting to attack the Assyafaah and Yusof Ishak Mosques on the anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shootings. The youth had produced a manifesto which described Tarrant as a "saint" and praised the Christchurch mosque shootings as the "justifiable killing of Muslims." Unable to obtain firearms and explosives due to Singapore's strict gun control laws, the youth had instead purchased a machete and vest. [334][335]

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited members of the Muslim community at the Phillipstown Community Hub in Christchurch the day after the attack.

Queen Elizabeth II, New Zealand's head of state, said she was "deeply saddened" by the attacks.[336][337] Other politicians and world leaders also condemned the attacks,[34][note 2] with some attributing them to rising Islamophobia.[374][375] The prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, announced that Pakistani emigrant Naeem Rashid, who charged at the gunman and died as a result of the attack on the Al Noor Mosque, would be posthumously honoured with a national award for his courage.[376] The prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, announced that "In the future, whenever we send our cricket team abroad, we will do that after examining and reviewing the security matters of the host countries" and added that Bangladesh had always provided highest security to visiting foreign teams.[377] Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić condemned the Christchurch attack and said that the shooter "has nothing to do with Serbia."[378] Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić criticised media for implying that Serbs should be blamed for the shootings.[143]

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, showed footage taken by Tarrant to his supporters at campaign rallies for upcoming local elections.[379][380] The New Zealand and Australian governments,[381] as well as Turkey's main opposition party, criticised his actions.[382] U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the "horrible massacre".[383] When asked after the attacks if he thought white nationalists were a growing threat around the world, Trump replied, "I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. It's certainly a terrible thing."[384]

Two New Zealand-based anti-immigration groups, the Dominion Movement and the New Zealand National Front, quickly condemned the attacks, distanced themselves from the perpetrator, and shut their websites down.[385] However, the broader far-right culture celebrated the attacks and "sanctified" Tarrant as a central figure.[386] Tarrant's manifesto was translated and distributed in more than a dozen different languages,[386] and a number of supporters on 8chan made photo and video edits of the shooting.[176][387] Some extremists were inspired by Tarrant, committing violent incidents and deadly attacks of their own, such as those in Poway, El Paso, and Bærum.[386] The United Kingdom's domestic intelligence service, MI5, launched an inquiry into Tarrant's possible links to the British far-right.[388]

Ahmed Bhamji, chair of the largest mosque in New Zealand,[389] spoke at a rally on 23 March in front of one thousand people.[390][391] He claimed that Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence agency, was behind the attack. The claim has been widely described as an unfounded, antisemitic conspiracy theory. The chairman of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand said that Bhamji's statement did not represent other New Zealand Muslims, but Bhamji defended his statements.[389][390][392]

According to Sri Lankan State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardene, an early inquiry indicated that the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings on 21 April were retaliation for the Christchurch attack.[393][394][395][396] However, some analysts believe the attacks to have been planned before the Christchurch attack,[397][398] and any linkage was questioned by New Zealand's government—with Prime Minister Ardern saying she was not aware of any intelligence linking the two.[399]

At least eight people have been arrested for possessing or sharing the video or manifesto; most of their names have been suppressed either to prevent threats against them or in support of freedom of expression online.[406] An 18-year-old man was arrested and charged with inciting racial disharmony under the Human Rights Act.[407] Although authorities said he was not involved in the shootings,[13] he was denied bail, and faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted on all charges.[408] He appeared in Christchurch District Court on 18 March faced with a charge of distributing the video, and a second charge of making an objectionable publication by posting, between 8 and 15 March, a photo of the Al Noor Mosque bearing the message "target acquired", as well as other chat messages "inciting extreme violence".[409][410]

On 19 March, an Australian man who had posted on social media praising the Christchurch shootings was indicted on one count of aggravated possession of a firearm without a licence and four counts of using or possessing a prohibited weapon. He was released on bail on the condition that he stay offline.[411][412][413][414]

On 20 March, Christchurch man Philip Arps was indicted on two charges of sharing a live-stream of the mosque shootings under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. He was denied bail and remanded into police custody until his next court appearance, which is scheduled for 15 April. His company also attracted criticism for its use of Nazi symbols.[415][416][417][418] Arps subsequently pleaded guilty to two charges of distributing video footage of the Al Noor attack, one count of sharing the accused live-stream footage to approximately 30 people on Facebook, and requesting that another person add a cross-hair and kill count to the footage. In June 2019, he was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment.[419][420] On 27 August, Arps' appeal of his sentence was dismissed.[421][422] Arps had also expressed neo-Nazi views and sent letters advocating violence against New Zealand politicians.[423][424] In late January 2020, Arps was released from prison under strict conditions including wearing a GPS electronic monitor, avoiding Muslims and Muslim buildings and prayer rooms, and not owning or touching firearms.[425][426]

On 2 July 2019, a 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to possessing footage of the Christchurch shootings. Though he was released on bail and ordered to appear at a Family Group Conference on 30 July, he was subsequently returned to prison on 9 July for breaching his bail conditions.[427][428]

On 12 July, a Dunedin man appeared in the Dunedin District Court on the charge of possessing footage of the Christchurch mosque shootings among other charges. He was remanded into police custody.[429]

On 12 February 2020, a Palmerston North man was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for posting footage of the Christchurch shooting on his Facebook page.[430]

On 26 February, a Christchurch man was jailed for nearly two years for doctoring footage of the mosque shootings with a Call of Duty tagline for white supremacist Philip Arps two days after the attacks.[431]

On 4 March 2020, a 19-year old Christchurch man was arrested for allegedly making a terror threat against the Al Noor mosque on an encrypted social media platform, Telegram.[432][433][434] Media reports subsequently identified the man as Sam Brittenden, a member of the white supremacist group Action Zealandia.[435][436]

Several media organisations in Australia and tabloid-news websites in the UK broadcast parts of the video, up to the point the gunman entered the building, despite pleas from the New Zealand Police not to show it.[437][438] Sky Television New Zealand temporarily stopped its syndication of Sky News Australia after that network showed the footage, and said it was working with Sky News Australia to prevent further displays of the video.[439] At least three Internet service providers in New Zealand blocked access to 8chan and other sites related to the attacks,[440] and temporarily blocked other sites hosting the video such as 4chan, LiveLeak, and Mega until they comply with requests to take down copies of the video.[441] The administrator of the online message board Kiwi Farms refused a New Zealand Police request for the data of users who made posts related to Tarrant and the attack.[442][443]

Social media sites including Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter said they were working diligently to remove the video from their platforms and would also remove anything posted in support of the attacks.[444][445] According to Facebook, no complaints were made about the video until 12 minutes after the live-stream ended;[446] the original video from Tarrant himself had been viewed fewer than 200 times before Facebook was notified of its content, and it had been viewed only 4,000 times before it was removed, which happened within minutes of notification. Facebook created a digital hash fingerprint to detect further uploads, however by this point the video had been propagated on other sites.[447] Facebook said it had blocked 1.5 million uploads of the video and images from it in the day after the attacks, including edited versions, with most blocking occurring through use of the fingerprint to prevent visibility.[447][448] Reddit banned "subreddits" named "WatchPeopleDie" and "Gore", saying threads there had glorified the attacks, in violation of user agreements.[449][450][451] Microsoft, in light of how social media sites handled the content related to the shooting, proposed the establishment of industry-wide standards that would flag such content quickly, and, in the wake of similar major events, operate a joint virtual command center to manage and control the spread of such information via social media.[452]

Despite the networks' attempts to self-police, New Zealand officials and other world leaders have asked them to take responsibility for extremist content posted on their services.[447] Australia introduced legislation that would fine content providers and potentially imprison their executives if they do not remove violent imagery of these types of attacks.[453] The French Council of the Muslim Faith filed a lawsuit against Facebook and YouTube, accusing the companies of "broadcasting a message with violent content abetting terrorism, or of a nature likely to seriously violate human dignity and liable to be seen by a minor".[454] Facebook has contested the lawsuit, saying, "Acts of terror and hate speech have no place on Facebook, and our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the entire community affected by this tragedy. We have taken many steps to remove this video from our platform, we are cooperating with the authorities".[454]

Stuart Bender of Curtin University in Perth noted that the use of live video as an integral part of the attacks "makes [them] a form of 'performance crime' where the act of video recording and/or streaming the violence by the perpetrator is a central component of the violence itself, rather than being incidental."[455] Just before carrying out the attacks, the gunman said to-camera, "Remember lads, subscribe to PewDiePie", referring to the most subscribed YouTuber at the time, Felix Kjellberg, who goes by the alias PewDiePie who at the time was having a race to 100 million subscribers with Indian music channel T-Series. PewDiePie has been accused of using far-right content in his videos.[456][457][458][182][459] In response, Kjellberg tweeted, "Just heard news of the devastating reports from New Zealand Christchurch. I feel absolutely sickened having my name uttered by this person. My heart and thoughts go out to the victims, families and everyone affected by this tragedy."[457]—he later called for the phrase to be discontinued.[460]