After the terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, the main suspect apparently planned further acts. "He had every intention of continuing his attack," said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. At the time of his arrest, Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant had two more firearms and explosives in his car.
Tarrant had opened the fire in succession in two mosques and killed 49 people. Ardern confirmed that there are also several children among the fatalities. A total of 39 people are still with gunshot wounds in various hospitals in the New Zealand city. Eleven of them are in intensive care. The casualties and injuries were among others from Turkey, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.
One day after the crime, Ardern got a picture of the situation in Christchurch. She also visited a refugee camp with Muslims and sent from there a message to the whole country: "New Zealand is united in mourning." It is believed that all the victims are Muslims.
AP
Vigil in New Zealand Auckland
Many other New Zealanders also expressed their sympathy by placing flowers and mourning messages near the Al Noor mosque. "I'm so sorry you were not safe here," said one of the papers. The imam of the attacked mosque in Linwood thanked for the expressions of solidarity and made a clear commitment to New Zealand. "We still love this country," said Ibrahim Abdul Halim.
According to the police went from the first alarm to the arrest of Tarrant 36 minutes. It was unclear whether two other suspects, who had also been arrested on Friday, were in contact with Tarrant. According to the current state of the investigation, he seems to have fired the shots in the mosques alone.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
Tarrant was brought before a judge in Christchurch and officially charged with murder. In court, he made his extremist sentiment clear with a gesture commonly used by white nationalists around the world. The 28-year-old is due to appear in court on 5 April next.
The assassin filmed the act and released the recordings live on the Internet. The British Interior Minister Sajid Javid asked after the attack Internet companies such as Youtube, Google, Facebook and Twitter to do more against extremist content on their platforms. Addressing the company, he said, "Take partial responsibility, enough is enough."
Ideological connections to Europe
Ardern announced as consequence of the attack an intensification of the weapon laws. In New Zealand, every citizen over the age of 16 can get a firearm license if they have previously taken a safety course. Thus, the weapons law is much laxer there than in Tarrants homeland Australia.
Man's Balkan journeys suggest ideological connections to Europe. The video shows names of battles in Europe against the Arabs or the Ottomans, including several in the Balkans, written on the offender's weapons. According to the Bulgarian judiciary, in 2016 and 2018 the man was among others in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria.
Prime Minister Ardern confirmed that the assassin was so far not in the sights of the New Zealand security authorities, although he had expressed himself on the Internet extremist. The Australian newspaper reported that the former fitness trainer wrote in an online entry from 2011, "I'm a monster of willpower, I just need one goal."