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To fight terrorism normalize love, not hatred
On a supposedly peaceful Friday afternoon in Christchurch, the city’s very own mosque, al Noor, was attacked by a guy with not only a gun, but also a recording device.
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Heavy heart: A child sits among flowers and candles left in tribute to the victims after a vigil in Christchurch on Monday, three days after a shooting incident at two mosques in the city that claimed the lives of 50 Muslim worshippers. (AFP/Anthony Wallace)
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n a supposedly peaceful Friday afternoon in Christchurch, the city’s very own mosque, al Noor, was attacked by a guy with not only a gun, but also a recording device. Livestreamed to thousands of people, both knowing and unknowing, the terrorist on March 15 casually shot everyone he could find inside the mosque with neither hesitation nor qualms, using a first-person shooter game-like format.
By the end of the video, the terrorist told the viewers to “subscribe to Pewdiepie”, a well-known YouTube gamer who is also infamous for supporting alt-right ideologies in his past videos, as if the violent hateful attacks he committed was simply a game.
Sane people could never imagine the reason behind recording such an inhumane atrocity, but the fact is there was a community online filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of people cheering and commenting throughout the livestream as if it was a harmless vlog streamed on Instagram.
Equally appalling is the 74-page manifesto that the terrorist posted anonymously in the online forum 8chan, which was then also sent to the New Zealand prime minister’s email two minutes prior to the first attack.
The manifesto expressed anti-Muslim and white supremacist sentiments as the supposed reasons behind the attack, as well as cited military battles glorified by white nationalists.
To no surprise, the manifesto also included mention of the infamous United States President Donald Trump, describing him as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose”.
After the attacks, Trump released his condolences for the victims as his spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, stated that the US strongly condemns the attack in acknowledgment of Trump’s mention in the terrorist’s manifesto.
