Fairfax

Friday saw the world rocked by terrorist attack in New Zealand’s second biggest city, Christchurch. Forty-nine innocent people were gunned down in cold blood, purely because of they were Muslims. The attacker who I won’t be naming, also released a so called “manifesto” detailing why he’d decided to act.

Christchurch, New Zealand has a more small town feel than that of a city. Like every other Friday, Muslims there gathered for Jumma Salah, (Friday Prayers).

Jumma is the prayer that most people who aren’t Muslim are aware of. Contrary to popular belief it’s not an additional prayer but, one for which Muslims are encouraged to do at their local mosque each Friday.

Barring special festivals such as Ramadan or Eid, it is the time mosques are likely to be at their busiest. On Friday a far-right terrorist used that fact to inflict maximum carnage.

Shortly before the Australian national began his killing spree, he posted his “manifesto” on 8chan.

8chan is an image-board, a type of internet forum where people primarily discuss topics using images attached to each of their posts rather than just text. The site is frequently linked to the alt-right and was de-listed by Google in 2015 after child porn was uploaded to the site.

Just before 1.30pm, New Zealand time, a post appeared on 8chan’s “/pol/ — Politically Incorrect” message board stating;

“Well lads, it’s time to stop sh*tposting and time to make a real life effort post. I will carry out and attack against the invaders, and will even live stream the attack via facebook… by the time you read this I should be going live,”

He then proceeded to gun down forty-nine people at two different mosques in Christchurch, all whilst live streaming it to the world. Before the tech companies could even react, the sick video was being shared all around the world, and sadly still is today.

Media Reaction

It didn’t take long for news outlets all over the world to pick up on the attack. The airwaves and news sites became awash with speculation as details began to emerge.

Here in the UK, some media outlets took the abhorrent decision to share stills and in some cases, footage of the attack on their websites. This despite New Zealand Police urging people not to share anything related to the attack.

The Daily Mail Online briefly shared an edited clip of the attacker entering one of the mosques and his entire 76 page manifesto for their readers to download. Only removing it after they faced backlash for the decision.

Deputy labour Leader Tom Watson — Credit: Twitter/@Tom_Watson

The usually restrained Daily Mirror, also ran edited footage including parts showing the attacker shooting at civilians in the street.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern urged the media to show restraint telling the press;

“We should not be perpetuating, sharing, [or] giving any oxygen to this act of violence.”

By midday in the UK all of the mainstream media sites had removed any footage from the attack.

Social Media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter appeared to struggle to remove footage of the attack being uploaded. In some cases hundreds of thousands of peoples were viewing the entire attack before it was being removed.

The press weren’t finished in causing outrage. On Friday evening, the first glimpses of Saturday mornings papers started to come out.

US Islamic Scholar Dr. Yasir Qadhi — Credit: Twitter/ @YasirQadhi

On social media, people expressed their anger at the press’ attempts to humanise the terrorist. Attention was drawn to the differences when they cover attacks perpetrated by Islamist’s.

Far-right Play Victim

You’d think, if comparisons between a white supremacist terrorist and yourself were being made, you would lie low. Those on the far-right seemed to have missed that message as they came out fighting following the attack.

In the terrorist’s “manifesto” he referred to 29-year-old communications director of the conservative group Turning Point USA, Candice Owens as

“the person that has influenced me above all.”

Owens responded to the mention of her name in the “manifesto”, appearing i to laugh at the assertion that she inspired the gunman, and instead blamed “racist leftists.”

After criticism poured in over her initial reaction, she then decided to claim everyone attacking her online were;

“Racist white liberals are on the hunt trying to lynch another black conservative tonight!”

The alleged shooter also expressed the common white supremacist belief that white people are being subject to “white genocide” and are being “replaced” by “non-Europeans” due to “mass immigration and the higher fertility rates of the immigrants.”

He used the so-called “14 words” at the core of the theory in his manifesto.

The phrase — “we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” — has been appropriated by far-right terrorists around the world, including the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter and Norwegian terrorist Anders Brevik

Other proponents of the white genocide conspiracy theory include former journalist Katie Hopkins,Prison Planet’s Paul Joseph Watson and Canadian YouTuber Lauren Southern.

US Conservative Commentator Jack Posobiec Credit: Twitter/ @JackPosobiec

As happened with the Las Vegas mass shooting, the right were quick to call for people not to politicising the attack. They claimed that those who did, were doing the what the terrorist wanted.

InfoWars even claimed the attacker was a “leftist” as he had professed admiration for “Communist China”. What he was professing admiration of in China was it’s lack of multiculturalism, not its totalitarian political system. That is a detail that matters tremendously in this situation.

Somehow, the far-right seemed to have used this terror attack to claim that they are the real victims not, the forty-nine slain Muslims.#

The “manifesto” is full of far-right rhetoric and conspiracy theories. Unlike the Las Vegas shooter, who left no direct evidence of being far-right, the Christchurch attacker did. This created an issue for them.

It would be hard for them to argue they haven’t been attacking Muslims and migrants at every opportunity as, the internet never forgets. Instead they’ve had to adopt a stance of deflection.

The familiar lines of “we’re only being attacked as we support free speech” or “it’s actually the left to blame” are some of the most common defence.

Any reference to theories the profess is brushed off as “the attacker trying to start a war.”

The Christchurch terrorist is the epitome of what far-right radicalisation looks like. He talks of how he was “woken” to the issues whites face when he visited Europe on a trip. Even stating he made donations to groups who support ethnoplurism.

MI5 are investigating after it emerged that he has visited the UK within the last two years. The UK is a hot bed of far-right extremism with Counter Terrorism Police stating that four terror attacks by groups on the right were thwarted in 2018.

Unfortunately for the right, they’ve been caught out by the attack in New Zealand. Their ability to deny a connection has been neutered. What we can therefore expect is more deflection and ad-hominem attacks on anyone that challenges them.