Threat of violence by white supremacists
The threat of white supremacist violence appears to have increased in New Zealand after the March 15 terror attack.
Spy bosses, Muslim community leaders, and academics warn that some people appear emboldened by last year’s violence. New Zealand’s terror threat level remains at medium, higher than it was prior to the attacks, meaning a terrorist attack ‘‘could well occur’’.
Two weeks ago, an image of a masked man sitting in a car outside Christchurch’s Al Noor mosque appeared on a messaging chat room that valorises the terror accused.
It was accompanied by a threat that implied the worshippers at the ‘‘same mosque’’ would be greeting each other for the ‘‘last time’’.
New Zealand Muslim Association president Ikhlaq Kashkari told Stuff he knew of four or five instances of hateful speech, threats, or people lurking outside a mosque, that were reported to police in the past week.
‘‘We’re constantly getting messages of hate . . . There was a pause, obviously, after 15 March ... Lately it’s got quite bad. I assume it’s because of the anniversary.’’
Kashkari said that while it was a small minority acting on their hate, resolving the threat would require a lot of work.
More connections between communities were required, he said, to close a distance that creates misunderstanding.
Islamic Women’s Council national co-ordinator Anjum Rahman said there were people who had been emboldened by the attack, and the level of hate was ‘‘back to where we were before the 15th of March’’.
Rahman and her fellow council members had met with government agencies in the years prior to the attack, expressing their concern about discrimination, rising levels of hate, and a more organised and resourced far-Right.
‘‘We had expressed our hope that the authorities were treating it more seriously, and were giving more attention to alt-right and white supremacist groups.’’
Rahman said conversations with government agencies had improved, but there was still an absence of consultation with the Muslim community when it came to key policies, such as national security.
There has been some indication the authorities are taking white supremacy more seriously.
Security Intelligence Service (SIS) director-general Rebecca Kitteridge has said the agency has investigated more people, between 30 and 50 at any one time.
Many were people with white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and ‘‘identitarian’’ beliefs, Kitteridge said.
But an SIS spokesman would not provide an estimate of how many such people have presented such concerns, when asked on Friday.
‘‘The numbers continually vary,’’ a statement read.
Two people affiliated with white nationalist groups have been arrested in recent months.
A 27-year-old soldier was arrested in November, and charged with disclosing information that prejudiced the security or defence of New Zealand.
He was later revealed to be a leading member of the ‘‘Dominion Movement’’, an identitarian group that hastily shut down its web presence in the hours after the March 15 attack.
Members of the shuttered group formed ‘‘Action Zealandia’’ in July 2019. It continues to promote identitarianism, a white nationalist movement that attracts young men who, behind pseudonyms on chat rooms, have been seen to praise Hitler and discuss the March 15 attack.
Activists from Paparoa, an anti-fascist group which has monitored far-Right groups in the wake of March 15, estimate fewer than 20 young men make up its core members, a portion of a wider cohort of young neo-Nazi believers who interact online.
Dr Chris Wilson, a University of Auckland senior lecturer who specialises in political violence, said Action Zealandia’s polished identitarianism masked its members’ fascist politics and their desire to overthrow democracy and create a white ethno-state.