Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says gun laws will be tightened but details still need to be worked out.
By Shibani Mahtani and Shibani Mahtani Reporter covering Southeast Asia Email Bio Follow Emanuel Stoakes March 17 at 11:06 AM KEY DEVELOPMENTS• The police have said that all the evidence points to Brenton Harrison Tarrant being a lone gunman. One other person picked up in the investigation faces charges of inciting racial hatred, and another faces a firearms charge, but police say neither was involved in the attacks.
“There will be changes to our guns laws,” Ardern told a news conference. “We will be discussing more detailed policy elements at cabinet tomorrow.” Avowed neo-Nazi Brenton Harrison Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian, made his first appearance on court Saturday, flashing what appeared to be a white-power hand signal, as he was escorted into the courtroom. He entered no plea to one count of murder. Officials said he would face additional charges and make another court appearance in April.It was the Christchurch’s worst toll of death and injury since a lunchtime earthquake devastated swaths of the city and killed 185 people in 2011.
A teenager egged the Australian senator who blamed the Christchurch shooting on immigration — then got punched in the face [New Zealand attack exposes how little the U.S. and its allies share intelligence on domestic terrorism threats] Casting her eyes toward the armed police standing watchfully nearby, a woman in her sixties said her grief was deepened by memories of time spent with members of the Afghan community, in particular a Hajji Daoud Nabi, a much-admired elder who helped newly arrived Muslim families but died in the attack, reportedly shielding a friend.Karishma, 29, a Linwood local from a Hindu family, said she felt fearful for the first time since she arrived in New Zealand three years ago.
At a branch of Gun City in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, two protesters, Michelle Genet and Mary Lochore, held up signs decrying that the shop was open — and selling AR-style rifles — two days after the massacre.In the store, an American, who declined to give his name, was browsing the selection of semiautomatic weapons. The man, who lives in New Zealand, said he was “not worried” about the potential ban and commented that America was the “best country in the world” because of its gun laws.
“The fact that we continue to stay silent is what’s going to make us as a country less safe,” Tlaib said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.” “How was this not picked up by intelligence agencies?” asked Asif Koya, a former president of the International Muslim Association of New Zealand, who said he had raised the issue with Ardern in a meeting Sunday and requested a commitment that law enforcement agencies will work with Muslim communities, and share any crucial information on security threats.
At the Wellington Islamic Center, a mosque and community center, dozens of people streamed in and out of the gates on Sunday, past an armed police officer on guard after Friday’s attack. They dropped off flowers — so many that they had begun streaming down the steps — and cards of support. Koya said he knew at least six victims, and many others who remain in hospital slowly recovering from the bullets that shattered their bones and punctured their organs. Among his friends was Mohsen Mohammad Al-Harbi, a citizen of Saudi Arabia who was also sometimes a imam at the Deans Street mosque. He was 61.
There were also calls for the Canterbury Crusaders, a hugely successful rugby team, to change its name after the massacre because of undertones of religious hatred. The club released a statement late Saturday night, saying they were deeply shocked by the tragedy and that the name was “a reflection of the crusading spirit of this community,” not “a religious statement.”
In Australia, Tarrant’s hometown of Grafton was also struggling to digest the news. On the road into the Town Center, a sign reads: “he does not represent us.” It’s a message the town’s deputy Mayor Jason Kingsley was eager to repeat. “There is no tension between new Australians and long-term residents of the Clarence Valley,” he said. “This is a quiet place, a great place to raise a family. We are a welcoming and inclusive community. We do not share or support racist or extremist views.”
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