Mosque terror video sharer pleads guilty
A Christchurch business owner who admitted sharing the Christchurch terror attack livestream told police he thought it was ‘‘awesome’’.
Philip Neville Arps pleaded guilty yesterday to two charges of distributing the mosque murders video and was remanded in custody for sentencing on June 14.
When questioned by police about the massacre – in which 50 people were murdered and 39 more shot and wounded – he replied: ‘‘I could not give a f..., mate.’’
He is one of 10 people police have taken action against for objectionable publication offences relating to the video of the Christchurch terror attack, including a 16-year-old male.
Arps asked for Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll to have him assessed for a possible home detention sentence, but the judge ruled it out, indicating Arps would be jailed.
He is the owner of Beneficial Insulation, a Christchurch business reported as featuring Nazi-related themes in its name and branding.
In 2016, Arps pleaded guilty to dumping a pig’s head outside the mosque as a pseudo donation for victims of Cyclone Winston, which had recently devastated Fiji.
The shooting video, filmed with a helmet-mounted Go-Pro and made available instantly as a livestream on Facebook, was considered objectionable.
Within a short time, it was widely distributed by Facebook users, and Arps was sent an electronic copy.
The next day, Arps sent the video to an unknown person and asked for it to be modified with a ‘‘kill count’’ as people were shot, and with crosshairs as though the viewer was looking through a rifle scope.
The modified version would have become a ‘‘meme’’ distributed on the internet, typically humorous, and likely spread rapidly by other users.
Arps also distributed the unmodified video to 30 associates.
When police spoke to him, he admitted distributing the video and requesting that it be modified.
When Judge O’Driscoll asked him his plea on one of the distribution charges, Arps replied: ‘‘Shared that news . . . yes. Guilty.’’
On the other charge, he replied: ‘‘Obviously guilty, in the way it’s been looked at.’’
The charges were laid under the Films, Videos and Publications Classifications Act. Crimes committed under the act may be punished with imprisonment, with the maximum penalty being 14 years.
Material deemed to be objectionable can include visual images or written comment, whether on social media or in other forms.
On the previous charge in 2016, Arps and two other members of farright nationalist group the Arian Legion had gone to the mosque on March 26 of that year, taking with them a box containing a severed pig’s head, cut in half, and bloodsoaked cabbage.
The box, labelled ‘‘Fiji’’, was left at the door.
The police summary of facts states that ‘‘it is common knowledge that people of Islamic faith cannot eat pork products and would find this action deeply offensive’’.
Arps was fined $800 and ordered to pay court costs of $130. He has a string of other convictions for a range of offences, including offensive behaviour.