An Australian man is under arrest and three others have been implicated in the massacre Friday of at least 49 people at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch.
The shooter has been identified as Brenton Tarrant, a native of Grafton in New South Wales. According to a newswire dispatch picked up by Sydney station News9, Tarrant “said in his own ‘manifesto’ he had planned to carry out an attack for two years and decided to target Christchurch three months ago.” (Other outlets, including the New York Times, have ascribed the manifesto to “someone appearing to be the gunman.”) The shootings took place around Friday Prayer.
So far one man in his late twenties has been charged with murder, though police have declined to say if that person charged was Tarrant.
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In addition to the shootings, the Times reports, two explosive devices were found attached to a vehicle that they had stopped.
A 17-minute video posted to social media appears to show a portion of the attack and may have been shot using a helmet camera worn by a gunman.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reacted to the the shootings, telling reporters:
It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack. From what we know, it does appear to have been well planned. Two explosive devices attached to suspects’ vehicles have been found and they have been disarmed.
We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are an enclave for extremism. We were chosen for the very fact that we are none of those things. Because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion. A home for those who share our values. Refuge for those who needs it. And those values will not and cannot be shaken by this attack.
The Times has wasted no time developing its overarching narrative, emphasizing that the manifesto was posted on 8chan, a controversial site that the paper describes not wholly accurately as “an online forum known for extremist right-wing discussions.”
It may indeed turn out that the shooter is a white nationalist, but as with every other mass shooting, the Left has already reached its conclusions.
