During the attacks, fifty-one people lost their lives when a gunman targeted the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton and then moved to the Linwood Islamic Centre. Numerous others were injured and left grieving.
The attacker was apprehended that day and subsequently admitted to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and one count of committing terrorism. He received a life sentence without parole.
His attempt to appeal the conviction and sentence was denied.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry into the attacks released its findings in December 2020, stating that government agencies could not have reasonably predicted the terrorist’s plans. A Coronial inquiry was put on hold.
Auckland University associate professor Chris Wilson and researcher Michal Dziwulski conducted independent research, leading to the publication of their book, He Told Us: How an Australian Committed Far-Right Terrorism in Christchurch New Zealand, released on Monday.
They examined the perpetrator’s online actions, including activity on 4chan, a platform known for far-right extremist users.
Wilson and Dziwulski compiled a dataset of 416 previously unknown 4chan posts, mostly from 2014 to 2018.
They identified these posts through an analysis of the attacker’s international travel, verifying his username and comments with other online platforms like Lonely Planet travel forums and Facebook interactions with the Australian white nationalist group Lads Society.
His writing style and frequent errors were also considered.
The authors noted that the newly uncovered posts reveal his gradual radicalization, describing him as a “pathetic fantasist, desperate for respect.”
They stated, “As he drew closer to the atrocity, his self-identifying statements became more confrontational, and his disclosed locations presented chances for detection.”
They emphasized maintaining a stringent standard for linking posts on the anonymous forum to the terrorist, excluding any with doubt from their study.
By 2017, his language had intensified, reflecting a disturbed mindset and increasing tendency toward violence, according to Wilson and Dziwulski.
The book criticizes the limited scope of the Royal Commission’s inquiry.
They stated, “In our view, however, there are very strong indications that crucial information related to the attack has not been adequately assessed, analyzed, or discussed in the commission’s report.”
“The commission’s treatment of the terrorist’s social media use is, in our view, perhaps the most important failing.”
Wilson and Dziwulski noted that while the commission was aware he had almost no in-person relationships and was active online, only a small fraction of his online presence was reviewed.
“All the warning signs that can indicate someone is going to commit public violence were there.”
These included purchasing and modifying weapons, public training, using neo-Nazi-linked usernames in public forums like TradeMe, openly declaring violent intentions, and having extremist views known to his family.
“There were many opportunities for detecting the terrorist.”
They also suggested SIS staff lacked the expertise to recognize suspicious behaviors.
While detecting and identifying the terrorist would have been challenging, they attributed the failure to intelligence agencies being under-resourced and focused elsewhere.
The SIS conducted an internal review of its processes and decision-making leading up to the Christchurch attacks.
In a 2021 public statement, Director-General Rebecca Kitteridge mentioned that the review resulted in several recommendations, already leading to changes.
“The reviewer was given unrestricted access to our staff, systems, and records. He conducted what was probably the most forensic search ever undertaken of NZSIS’s information repositories to look for any reference whatsoever to the individual responsible for the attacks or anything that could have uncovered his plans. Nothing of national security relevance was found.”
Kitteridge emphasized that it was crucial for New Zealanders to know that NZSIS “sought to learn everything it could from this terrorist attack.”
When the Royal Commission’s report was presented to the Governor-General, chair Sir William Young noted the completion of 18 months of in-depth inquiry, engagement, and analysis.
The evidence encompassed information from the community, reports and reviews, Cabinet papers, ministerial briefings, interview transcripts, meeting notes, email records, police statements, audio recordings, financial reconstructions, credit card transactions, medical assessments, social media reports, information from international media outlets, maps, photographs, videos, media reports, physical evidence, international partner information, and phone records.
“It has been an honour and privilege to undertake this Inquiry. Our hope is that this report not only provides answers, but also impetus for change and conversations about the kind of country we want to be. We are grateful to all the people who shared their experiences and wisdom with us, in meetings and submissions.”
