NZ mosque attacker sent to jail until death

Life sentence without any parole for Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant who gunned down 51 people in Christchurch in March 2019

CHRISTCHURCH: The white supremacist who slaughtered 51 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques last year was on Thursday sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the first time the maximum available sentence has been imposed.

Judge Cameron Mander said the crimes committed by 29-yearold Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant were so wicked that a lifetime in jail could not begin to atone for them. He said they had caused enormous loss and hurt and stemmed from a warped and malignant ideology.

“Your actions were inhuman,” Mander said. “You deliberately killed a three-year-old infant by shooting him in the head as he clung to the leg of his father.”

After the sentence was announced, survivors of the shootings raised hands and fists in celebration and greeted supporters waving signs with painted hearts and carrying roses outside the court building.

The March 15, 2019 attacks targeting people praying at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch shocked New Zealand and prompted new laws banning the deadliest types of semiautomatic weapons. They also prompted global changes to social media protocols after the gunman live-streamed his attack.

During the four-day sentencing hearing, 90 survivors and family members recounted the horror of that day and the trauma they continue to feel. One of those who spoke was Temel Atacocugu, who survived being shot nine times during the attack at the Al Noor mosque.

Tarrant pleaded guilty in March to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism, reversing his earlier not guilty pleas.

He fired his lawyers and told the judge he didn’t wish to speak at his sentencing. A standby lawyer appointed by the court told the judge that Tarrant did not oppose the maximum sentence.

ATTACKS ‘ABHORRENT AND IRRATIONAL’

The judge said Tarrant recently told a psychiatrist that he now rejects his extremist views and considers his attacks “abhorrent and irrational”.

Tarrant arrived in New Zealand in 2017, never sought work, and began planning for his attack by stockpiling high-powered weapons and joining shooting clubs, the judge said.

“It appears that while travelling in Europe you developed deep-seated radical views regarding the migrant population of some Western countries,” the judge said.

Tarrant flew a drone over the Al Noor mosque and researched the layout, according to prosecutors. On the day of the attacks, he drove to the mosques with six guns, including two AR-15S.

“You committed mass murder,” the judge said. “You slaughtered unarmed and defenceless people. You maimed, wounded and crippled many others. Your victims include the young and the old, men, women and children.”

After the judgment, New Zealand police commissioner Andrew Coster called it a “historic sentence”, saying, “It is the impact on victims and their stories of survival, strength, humility and forgiveness that we must remember.

“New Zealand and the world has felt the pain of the Muslim community and the horror of such a hateful and senseless act committed in our own backyard, against our own people. We responded to this event with unity and our communities came closer together.”