SEX GANG SCANDAL FUELLED ATTACK
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AT MOSQUES across Britain, worshippers attended Friday prayers, continuing as normal despite worries about copycat attacks after Christchurch.
Fears that far-right extremists here might be inspired by gunman Brenton Tarrant were raised by the words “For Rotherham” on one of his ammunition cartridges – a reference to the Muslim child sex abuse gang in Yorkshire.
Tarrant’s crazed manifesto posted online made specific reference to Britain, with a threat to London mayor Sadiq Khan.
Also inscribed was the name of Alexandre Bissonnette, who killed six at a mosque in Quebec City, Canada, two years ago.
On the same clip was the name of Italian right-wing extremist Luca Traini, jailed for 12 years in October for wounding six African migrants in the city of Macerata.
Other scrawls included references to historical battles, including “Tours 732”, a nod to the victory in the Battle of Tours of French forces halting the Muslim advance into western Europe.
Whether Tarrant had direct contact with British far-right extremists was unclear but he hardened in his hatred to other cultures after travelling around Europe two years ago.
In the white supremacy manifesto published before the slaughter began, he wrote that he had been preparing for an attack ever since a 2017 visit to France, which has the largest Muslim community in western Europe.
He told of visiting a “moderate sized town” in eastern France, and “a stream of invaders” entering a shopping centre, which made him so angry that he drove off.
He also claimed he was inspired by Anders Breivik’s 2011 murder of 69 students on the Norwegian island of Utoya.
He also ranted about killing prominent politicians, including German chancellor Angela Merkel, who he held responsible for increasing the number of migrants into the EU, and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Kill Angela Merkel, kill Erdogan, kill Sadiq Khan,” the document said.
The 74-page manifesto tells of anti-immigrant motives for his attack, with the deranged terrorist describing victims as “invaders” who “seek to occupy my people’s lands and ethnically replace my own people”.
The Aussie said New Zealand was not the original choice for an attack, saying he only came to the country temporarily to plan and train. He wrote: “I begun [sic] planning an attack roughly two years in advance and an attack at the location in Christchurch three months in advance.”
He also praised Brexit, which he described as “the British people firing back at mass immigration, cultural displacement and globalism”.
In his rantings, Tarrant wrote that he supported men such as Darren Osborne, who drove into worshippers outside Finsbury Park mosque in London in 2017.
Osborne, who caused one death, was later jailed for life.
The manifesto included links
We stand together for a world where we respect each other JEREMY CORBYN
to the Rotherham scandal, and talked about the rape of British women by “European invaders”.
Last night, Rotherham survivors savaged Tarrant’s actions.
Sammy Woodhouse tweeted: “My thoughts go out to all the victims killed in New Zealand. Such an evil act.
“As a Rotherham survivor, I would like to add a message from me and my family. This was not done in our name.”
Whistleblower Jane Senior, who helped uncover the abuse scandal in the town, said she was “appalled” to hear of the New Zealand attack.
She added: “I think it is horrific that the tragedy in Rotherham has been used, not only to incite hatred but actually to murder innocent people. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.
“My son sent me the picture of the gun casing with Rotherham written on it and I felt physically sick.”
An archive of a Facebook page thought to belong to Tarrant contained dozens of posts in the last week about multiculturalism in Europe, with several referring to the UK.
Among them were YouTube recordings of speeches by pre-and post-war British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley.
Last night, it emerged that music in the background of the live stream of the attack was a Serbian nationalist song glorifying Radovan Karadzic.
The war criminal was jailed for genocide in 2016 over the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces.
The Remembering Srebrenica charity said the news had “particularly shaken survivors of the genocide and ethnic cleansing”.
Tarrant’s videos of the attacks were quickly removed from Facebook and Instagram but the companies are facing pressure to remove any far-right content inciting violence straight away.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted to YouTube, Google, Facebook and to Twitter itself to “take some ownership. Enough is enough”.
In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon visited worshippers at Glasgow Central Mosque in a show of solidarity.
She said: “We must stand against Islamophobia and all hate.
“Scotland’s diversity is our strength and we value and appreciate our relationships with our diverse faith communities and welcome their contribution to our society.”
The Muslim Council of Scotland, who organised a vigil beside the statue of the first first minister, Donald Dewar, in the centre of Glasgow, said it was “time for us all to stand together” against hatred.
Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr said patrols around mosques would be stepped up and officers would be “giving advice on how people and places can protect themselves”.
Others to comment included the Queen, who said she was “deeply saddened by the appalling events”.
She added: “At this tragic time, my thoughts and prayers are with all New Zealanders.”
Prime Minister Theresa May said: “My thoughts are with all of those affected by this sickening act of violence.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn laid a wreath at the High Commission of New Zealand in London.
Corbyn said: “We will not allow these people to divide us, we will stand in solidarity with those who suffered egregiously in New Zealand.
“We stand together for a world where we respect each other, where we recognise the strength that comes from our diversity.
“And recognise an attack on any one community or any one place of worship, whatever the faith, is actually an attack on all of us.”