10 Terrorism Project Script

Background to the incident – Provide background/context to the terrorist incident. What factors led to the
attack? Was there a history of conflict previously?
The Christ Church Mosque Shootings occurred in New Zealand on the 15th of March 2019. The perpetrator live
streamed over 17mins of the attack before Facebook removed it. Two consecutive mass shootings occurred,
one at the Al Noor Mosque, and later at the Linwood Islamic Centre, killing fifty-one, and injuring fifty people
total. The attack led out by Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year-old, Australian male. It’s believed that the attacker’s
childhood, extremist white supremacy views, and racism led to this act of violence, intentionally to harm
Muslims and people of non-European descent.

Key participants – Who were the main perpetrators of the attack? Provide information on training, planning,
key background information on them. Include main respondents too if applicable (for example, George W
Bush for September 11 attacks)
Brenton Tarrant grew up in Grafton, NSW, and experienced a troubling childhood. Brenton suffered trauma
from his parents’ divorce, had unsupervised access to the internet throughout his childhood, faced bullying,
and was abused by his mum’s new partner. He openly expressed his racist views, including toward his mum’s
partner with indigenous ancestry. (Fitzsimmons, 2020) After the death of his father in 2010, Tarrant became
active on white-nationalist message boards. He became obsessed with terrorist attacks executed by Islamic
extremists (Counter Extremism Project, n.d.). Countless amounts of evidence were found of his preparation for
the terrorist attack, some suggesting he was planning an attack on Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival (Hon Sir
William Young KNZM, 2020). The evidence found indicates that he had been planning his attack since February
2018. Overall, Brenton Tarrant was proven to be a far-right, white nationalist, and extremist, whose beliefs
stemmed from an early age. After pleading guilty to fifty-one murders, forty attempted murders, and engaging
in a terrorist act, Brenton Tarrant was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

What happened during the incident? (You’ll need to use two primary and one secondary source here). Use
three sources in total to explain what happened – who was affected, injuries, eyewitness accounts, tales of
survival/heroism etc (this will be dependent on your source material – follow PICOMA and remember to
paraphrase (put in your own words) along with using some direct quotes)
SOURCE ONE:
During Brenton Tarrant’s court trial, the high court heard sixty-six victim impact statements. One of the most
impactful statements came from the Imam (prayer leader) of Al Noor Mosque, Gamal Fouda, who stated that
“I would like to say to the terrorist that you were misguided and misled. We are peaceful and a loving
community who did not deserve your actions. We go to the mosque for peace and worship. Your hatred is
unnecessary. If you have done anything you have brought the whole community closer with your evil
actions.”(Fouda, 2020) Gamal Fouda’s statement represented the shock and loss the community felt and
emphasised that the victims were not in anyway deserving of the attack.
SOURCE TWO:
Before his attack, Brenton Tarrant published online and emailed his manifesto “The Great Replacement” to
media outlets and to the Prime Minister at the time, Jacinda Ardern. The manifesto he wrote followed key
aspects of “The Great Replacement Theory,” whilst he also discussed his beliefs, advice for other extremists,
and why he attacked the mosques. The manifesto was confronting and extremely offensive, constantly
referring to any non-white peoples as ‘invaders’. In this text, Brenton Tarrant stated one of the reasons for his
attack was “to most of all show the invaders that our lands will never be their lands, our homelands are our
own and that, as long as a white man still lives, they will NEVER conquer our lands and they will never replace
our people” (Tarrant, 2019). Evidently, Brenton Tarrant’s extremist, right-wing views were the main cause for his
terror attacks.
 SOURCE THREE:
The DW news website published on the day of the attack a timeline of the incidents occurring throughout the
day in chronological order, from the shooting to the police investigation. This secondary source outlines the
key events happening on the day of the terrorist attack; however, some sequence of events or occurrences
may be misleading. Prior to the attack, the shooter emailed his manifesto to the media and the office of Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern. At 3:40 he entered the Al Noor Mosque and opened fire with an automatic rifle, live
streaming on Facebook, and killing forty-two people. He shoots people in the street, takes out another gun
from his car and re-enters the mosque. After leaving, the gunman shoots a woman outside. The Facebook
video is removed. Whilst the police arrive at the Al Noor Mosque due to reports of gunfire, Brenton Tarrant
opens fire and kills seven people at the Linwood Islamic Centre 6km away. After a worshipper manages to
disarm him, Tarrant leaves. At 10:14PM, police confirm a 28-year-old white man has been charged with
murder and will be prosecuted. (Shelton, 2019)

Evaluation of individuals/groups/nations affected. Explain how/why individuals and groups (victims,

religious groups, nations as a whole) were impacted by these attacks. For example, you could mention how
many first responders in the September 11 attacks died early from complications associated with smoke
inhalation after the towers collapsed).
Families and friends of the people killed in the terrorist attack felt anger amongst their loss. In source one, it
should be noted that 66 people came forward to make a victim statement, many yelling at the terrorist in
court, reminding him of New Zealand’s sense of community, and that he brought the multi-cultural nation
together instead of dividing them. Victims of the terrorist incident who had survived experienced many cases
of psychological distress, paranoia, and survivors guilt. The Muslim community was worried and in fear of
entering any mosques and despite the attack, there was no discrimination towards Muslims or any agreeance
with the attacker’s beliefs.

Legacy of the incident – how was the affected nation/world changed by this incident at the time? How are
our lives shaped today by this terrorist attack? For example, you might mention how rigorous airport
security was introduced after the September 11 attacks to detect suspicious materials/weapons prior to
people boarding planes)
New Zealand’s government already had strict gun laws in their nation prior to the attack, however changes
were made to them just over two weeks after the attack. A bill was passed in 11 days, to improve safety for
New Zealand’s citizens. The New Zealand Parliament website stated that the new law banned “semi-automatic
firearms, magazines, and parts so that you couldn’t assemble a gun by yourself”. Additionally, the first
Parliament meeting after the attacks featured prayers in Arabic, a march of leaders from various faiths, and the
MP’s offered condolences towards victims of the Christ Church massacre. It is apparent that New Zealand’s
response to the terrorist attack was sufficient in providing support to victims and families of the deceased,
whilst tightening their gun laws. New Zealand still remains one of the most culturally diverse and accepting
nations in the world, which has only improved since Brenton Tarrant’s terrorist attack on the Al Noor Mosque
and Linwood Islamic Centre.

Bibliography
Counter Extremism Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from Brenton Tarrant:
https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/brenton-tarrant

Fitzsimmons, C. (2020, December 13). The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from The warning signs
in the Christchurch terrorist's Australian upbringing:
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-warning-signs-in-the-christchurch-terrorist-s-
australian-upbringing-20201211-p56mvg.html

Fouda, G. (2020, August 24). Reuters. Retrieved from Quotes from court hearings for New Zealand
mosque shooter: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-newzealand-shooting-factbox-
idUKKBN25K046

Hon Sir William Young KNZM. (2020, December 2). Royal Commision New Zealand. Retrieved from
Report: Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain on
15 March 2019 : https://christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/the-report/firearms-
licensing/planning-the-terrorist-attack/

New Zealand Parliament. (2021, March 12). Retrieved from The Christchurch mosque attacks: how
Parliament responded: https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/the-
christchurch-mosque-attacks-how-parliament-responded/

Shelton, J. (2019, March 15). DW. Retrieved from Timeline of the attack:
https://www.dw.com/en/timeline-of-new-zealand-terror-attack/a-47940722

Tarrant, B. (2019, March 15). The_Great_Replacementconvertito.pdf. Retrieved from https://img-

prod.ilfoglio.it/userUpload/The_Great_Replacementconvertito.pdf