The murders were live-streamed
That’s not a statement we want to see, but it’s the reality.
The video, which shows a first-person view of the killings, has been widely circulated.
- About 10 to 20 minutes before the attack in New Zealand, someone posted on the /pol/section of 8chan, an anarchist alt-right message board. The post included links to the suspect’s Facebook page, where he stated he would be live-streaming and published a rambling and hate-filled manifesto
- Before opening fire, the suspect urged viewers to subscribe to PewDiePie’s YouTube channel.
We interrupt this murder to bring you a commercial message.
- The attacks were live-streamed on Facebook and shared widely on other social media platforms, such as YouTube and Twitter
The revolution will be televised, only it’s the wrong kind of revolution.
Forty-nine people have been killed and at least 20 wounded in shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the incident as a terrorist attack and one of New Zealand’s “darkest days”. It is the nation’s deadliest attack.
A gunman identifying himself as an Australian live-streamed the rampage at Al Noor mosque to Facebook. He had espoused racist, anti-immigrant views.
Police say a man in his late 20s has been arrested and charged with murder.
…
The gunman live-streaming the attack from a head-mounted camera said he was a 28-year-old Australian called Brenton Tarrant. The footage showed him firing indiscriminately at men, women and children from close range inside the Al Noor mosque.
Everything is terrible and will get worse.
I wish I could think you were wrong.
This is horrifying. When I first heard about it, I didn’t know there was live-streaming. I think that makes it worse, because it means he was pleased and proud and had no remorse, and I also suspect we’ll see copycats.
We worry so much about Mexicans, Muslims, and other refugees, but white nationalists are everybody’s worst nightmare.
Cross-posting from the misc room because it seems to fit here, awful as it was to post even once:
There already people using this horror for political gain and/or justification.
There are people saying it proves gun control doesn’t prevent mass shootings so everyone should have more and more guns.
There are people (even in my sleepy village where people only know about New Zealand because it was in those hobbit movies) saying that while they don’t condone the actions of these terrorists (which they obviously totally do) they are “unsurprised” because of all the acts of violence committed against “us” by “extremist muslims”. Even after I pointed out that this appears to be about the bullshit notion of white genocide rather than retaliation for real or imagined previous acts of terror.
And then there’s the senator from Australia, Fraser Anning, who said among other awful things:
It’s as though we aren’t diminished enough by these awful acts in the first place. It seems like we have to pull together to make ourselves even less through our reaction.
This reaction reminds me very much of a current story in our local paper about two children, brother and sister, aged about 11 and 13, I think, who have gone missing. In cases like these, the overwhelming probability is that they’ve been murdered by family or someone close to the family or they’ve run away from an abusive household. After those are eliminated, it’s likely that they’ve been abducted. The story is already overwhelmingly tragic regardless of their fate.
So what are the people saying in the comments to this story? What sort of comments is the paper allowing?
Jokes, of course, about how “maybe they’ve gone home”. They have names which are not traditionally English, you see. How fucking droll.
Words fail me, too. I seem to have lots of them, but none are of any use.
Live streamed, like an online WoW game’s secret level where the brave warrior practices his gunmanship against rooms full of unarmed people. And just who the fuck is sharing the video? Don’t answer that, the world is full of twisted racists who will get plenty of thrills from it.
I concur with you, iknklast, that this will inspire plenty of copycats.
Some days I hate the world. Today is one of those days.
It’s not just English names, of course. In our town, we have tons of people with Czech, Polish, or German names (more than English; in fact, my name is unusual in being an English name here) dismissing the Mexicans and Muslims (as well as plenty of middle eastern Christians or African Christians) as foreign. These days, at least here in the midwestern US, it’s more about skin color, because few of these people can claim English sounding names.
It’s interesting that the Nebraska of Willa Cather was so what we would now call “multi-cultural.” It was a land of immigrants, and she was deeply interested in that. The racial hierarchies were there already though, of course.
Thanks all for your words of sympathy here and elsewhere. I know they are genuine and that helps all of us in Christchurch and New Zealand. We’re in shock still this isn’t our society and it shouldn’t be allowed to define us.
I have read the murderers manifesto, such as it is. He’s just another in a long line of disgusting weak losers afraid of everything not just like them. Unfortunately even disgusting weak losers with automatic rifles can kill large numbers of people. It’s clear from his writings that he chose the quietest, safest place with a big soft target to make the biggest statement he could. This wasn’t a random attack, it was carefully planned and well financed. His message wasn’t just to New Zealand. He specifically states that he seeks to sow discord, fear and hatred throughout the west. He states that by using firearms he hopes to spark a renewed push for gun control in the US, which will in turn lead to further action by supporters of the 2nd amendment.
As for Fraser Anning, my contempt knows no bounds. This terror attack was carried out by one of his. Not only an Australian, but a right wing white nationalist. Exactly the supporters of Anning and exactly who he stirs up with his rhetoric. Anning in his own way is responsible for this. For him to blame the victims for being shot, for him to blame New Zealand for having a largely peaceful and accepting society is beyond despicable.
Don’t know about the discord part, but put me down for some fear and hatred of white men with guns.
Rob:
Everything you say++
Be OK.
Rob,
We spent a fantastic two weeks in NZ last July, including a couple of days in Christchurch (where we had our best meal in the country, thanks to Pedro’s House of Lamb; my wife was especially grateful for the taste of home). Horrible to think of something like this happening anywhere, but especially in a city that’s suffered so much recently.
Rob. <3
Thank you again all. It means so much. Now stop it. You’re literally making me cry.
I’m afraid you’ll just have to get used to that.
Charleston did it to me – especially when I learned more about the victims in order to write about them here. To this day I can’t think about it without tearing up. Same with the mass shooting at Garissa College in Kenya, same with the school in Peshawar.
We’ll blub with you.
Just seen on the 10pm news that NZ police discovered a body that they hadn’t been aware of as they were removing the last of the victims from where they were slain, so that’s now fifty dead. The fact that so many police and other emergency personnel managed to miss seeing this last victim suggests a small body.
Dammit!
Here is a story that summarises much of what is already on the record, but also lists many of the victims, has photos and brief bio’s. Just ordinary good people going about their lives.
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2019/03/end-of-our-innocence/
I’ve been putting off looking at that kind of thing (I saw some glimpses on Twitter) because…I’m a wimp. It’s heartbreaking so I’m putting it off, like a coward.
You’re not the only one. I think the link to these people’s lives and memory deserves to be made widely accessible. I certainly wouldn’t think worse of anyone who couldn’t face looking.
On a separate note, I thoroughly approved of Egg Boy, and while he has to face the consequences of the assault he committed, I hope the thugs who used excessive force to restrain him and Fraser Anning himself get their comeuppance.