Gunman live-streamed shooting at mosques

CHRISTCHURCH: An Australian gunman (pic) involved in attacks on New Zealand mosques that left at least 49 people dead published a racist manifesto on Twitter beforehand then livestreamed his rampage, according to an online analysis.

Police called for people not to share the video, which showed the gunman shooting repeatedly at worshippers from close range.

“Police are aware there is extremely distressing footage relating to the incident in Christchurch circulating online,” New Zealand police said in a Twitter post.

“We would strongly urge that the link not be shared. We are working to have any footage removed.”

The media analysed a copy of the Facebook Live video, which shows a clean-shaven, Caucasian man with short hair driving to the Al Noor Mosque in central Christchurch, then shooting as he enters the building.

It was determined the video was genuine through a digital investigation that included matching screenshots of the mosque taken from the gunman’s footage with multiple images available online showing the same areas.

The manifesto detailing motivations for the attack was posted yesterday morning onto a Twitter account with the same name and profile image as the Facebook page that streamed the attack.

Entitled The Great Replacement, the 73-page document said the gunman had wanted to attack Muslims.

The title of the document has the same name as a conspiracy theory originating in France that believes European populations are being displaced in their homelands by immigrant groups with higher birth rates.

The manifesto said the gunman identified himself an Australia-born, 28-year-old white male from a low-income, working-class family.

He said that key points in his radicalisation were the defeat of the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen in 2017 elections, and the death of 11-year-old Ebba Åkerlund in the 2017 Stockholm truck attack.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the attacker at the Masjid al Noor mosque was an Australian.

“We stand here and condemn, absolutely the attack that occurred today by an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist,” said Morrison.

New Zealand authorities said that three people had been arrested, but their identities were not made public.

The media confirmed the authenticity of the live-streamed video partly by matching the distinctive features at the mosque seen in the footage with images available online.

These included a fence, postbox and doorway at the entrance to the mosque. — AFP