The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Racist gunman planned to burn down mosques after murdering 51 people
COURT: Sentencing hearing told how white supremacist plotted onslaughts
The white supremacist who killed 51 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques had intended to burn down the mosques afterwards, a prosecutor said in court yesterday.
New details about the March 2019 attacks were outlined during the first day of a four-day sentencing hearing at the Christchurch High Court.
The hearing gave some families and survivors their first chance to confront the gunman, 29-year-old Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant.
“You killed your own humanity, and I don’t think the world will forgive you for your horrible crime,” said a tearful Maysoon Salama, the mother of 33-year-old Atta Elayyan, who was killed in the attacks.
“You thought you can break us. You failed miserably.”
Tarrant pleaded guilty in March to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism – the first terrorism conviction in New Zealand’s history.
He could become the first person in New Zealand to be sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of parole.
Tarrant was brought into the courtroom shackled and wearing a grey prison outfit.
The courtroom was only half full due to coronavirus distancing requirements, while many others watched from adjacent courtrooms where the hearing was streamed.
The hearing began with prosecutors outlining the attacks in a 26-page summary of facts.
Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes said that two months before the attacks, Tarrant flew a drone directly over the Al Noor mosque, recording an aerial view of the grounds and buildings and taking note of the entry and exit doors.
Mr Hawes said the gunman planned his attacks for when the maximum number of worshippers were present, and that 190 people were in the Al Noor mosque for Friday prayers on the day of the attacks.
In his car, the gunman had six guns – two AR-15 rifles, two other rifles, and two shotguns, the court heard.
He also brought with him four modified gas containers which he planned to use to burn down the mosques after he finished shooting, Mr Hawes said. Tarrant has dismissed his lawyers and is representing himself during the sentencing, raising fears he could try to use the occasion as a platform to promote his racist views.
New Zealand abolished the death penalty for murder in 1961, and the longest sentence imposed since then has been life imprisonment with a minimum 30-year non-parole period.
The attacks targeting people praying at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques shocked New Zealand and prompted new laws banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons.
They also prompted global changes to social media protocols after the gunman livestreamed his attack on Facebook, where it was viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.