New Zealand mosque gunman pleads guilty to murder, terrorism

The man who committed the worst atrocity in New Zealand’smodern history when he slaughtered 51 worshippers at two Christchurch mosquesunexpectedly pleaded guilty to all charges Thursday.

The attacks targeting people praying at the mosques a yearago shocked the nation and prompted new laws banning the deadliest types ofsemi-automatic weapons.

   

It also prompted global changes to social media protocolsafter the gunman livestreamed his attack on Facebook, where it was viewed byhundreds of thousands of people.

The sudden turn in the case took survivors and relatives bysurprise, and brought relief to people across New Zealand. Many had fearedAustralian white supremacist Brenton Harrison Tarrant would try to use histrial as a platform to promote his views.

He’d outlined those views in a 74-page manifesto hepublished online shortly before the attacks.

Tarrant, 29, pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism at the Christchurch HighCourt. He had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges and his trial hadbeen scheduled to start in June.

Tarrant is the first person to be found guilty of terrorismin New Zealand under laws passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks inthe U.S.

The change in plea came less than two weeks after NewZealanders commemorated those who died on the anniversary of the March 15,2019, attacks.

Honestly, I’m still trying to process what just happened, saidAya Al-Umari, whose brother Hussein was killed in the attack on the Al Noormosque.

I feel conflicted.” She said that on the one hand, shehad wanted to find out more details about what happened at the trial but on theother hand was feeling relieved about not having to face the trauma of sittingthrough it.

Temel Atacocugu, who survived being shot nine times duringthe attack at Al Noor, said he was surprised by the turn of events and hopedthe judge would set an example at the sentencing by imposing the harshestpunishment in the country’s history and helping ensure nothing like it wouldhappen again.

I’m happy that he has accepted that he is guilty, Atacocugusaid. ,Judge Cameron Mander has not yet set a sentencing date. Tarrant faceslife imprisonment, with the judge having some discretion in deciding theminimum number of years Tarrant must serve before becoming eligible for parole.

The change in plea came at a hastily arranged court hearingat a time that New Zealand was beginning a four-week lockdown to try and combatthe new coronavirus.

The lockdown meant Tarrant appeared in the court via videolink from his jail cell in Auckland and only a handful of people were allowedinside the courtroom, including the imams from the two mosques that wereattacked.

Mander said it was unfortunate the lockdown preventedvictims and family members from being able to attend the hearing but the imamswere helping to represent them. He said he wanted to quickly move ahead withthe hearing, especially with the COVID-19 response threatening delays to thecourt schedule.

Tarrant, who was wearing a gray prison sweater, showedlittle emotion as he pleaded guilty. He didn’t indicate why he had changed hispleas, and his lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was praisedaround the world for her empathetic response to the Muslim community after theattacks, said it was deeply disappointing the victims didn’t get to attend thehearing.

But she said there was a certain sense of relief that thewhole nation, but particularly our Muslim community, are being spared from atrial that could have otherwise acted as a platform.”

Tarrant moved to New Zealand in 2017 and kept a low profilein the university city of Dunedin. He frequented a gym, practiced shooting at arifle club range and built up an arsenal of weapons. He didn’t appear to beemployed, and said in some online posts that he’d inherited a significantamount of money when his father died.Tarrant appeared to have a fascination withreligious conflicts in Europe and the Balkans, and visited a number of sites inEastern Europe in the years before he committed the massacre. After his attackat the second mosque, Tarrant was driving, possibly to carry out a shooting ata third mosque, when two police officers rammed his car off the road, draggedhim out and arrested him.

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