THE MAN WHO is alleged to have been involved in the fatal attacks on mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch has been named as Brenton Tarrant.
At least 49 people were killed in today’s attack at the Masjid Al Noor and Linwood mosques in the city, with many more injured.
Police have arrested and charged a man with murder in relation to the attacks.
Tarrant, an Australian citizen is in his late-20s, identified himself online prior to the attack, before allegedly livestreaming himself carrying it out on Facebook.
He was not on any watchlists for suspected terrorist activity, authorities have said.
At a press conference, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the attacker at the Masjid al Noor mosque was an Australian.
“We stand here and condemn, absolutely the attack that occurred today by an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist,” Morrison said.
Social media accounts bearing Tarrant’s name had posted a number of photos of guns prior to today’s attacks.
On a Twitter page with the same name and profile photo as the Facebook page, Tarrant shared a manifesto detailing his motivations for the attack.
In this manifesto, he declared hatred for Muslim immigrants in Europe and expressed admiration for extremist movements in the US.
He also identified himself as an Australia-born, 28-year-old white male from a low-income, working-class family in the manifesto.
The video of the attack – although widely shared – was taken down by Facebook and Youtube, and police asked people not to share it.
“Police are aware there is extremely distressing footage relating to the incident in Christchurch circulating online,” New Zealand police said in a Twitter post.
“We would strongly urge that the link not be shared. We are working to have any footage removed.”
Although police declined to formally identify Tarrant, they did say a man in his 20s is due to appear in court charged with murder tomorrow.
With reporting from AFP.
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