Christchurch gunman Brenton Tarrant pleads guilty to mosque attacks
Brenton Tarrant, the Australian man behind Christchurch’s deadly terror attacks, which killed 51 people, has changed his plea to guilty.
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An Australian right-wing terrorist accused of murdering 51 people in a mosque in New Zealand has unexpectedly changed his plea to guilty, sparing his victims’ families a lengthy court process.
Brenton Tarrant has shocked by admitting he was the lone gunman responsible for slaughtering Muslim worshippers at two Christchurch mosques on March 15 last year.
The 29-year-old former Grafton man entered the guilty pleas to 51 charges of murder and another 40 charges of attempted at a hastily-arranged High Court hearing in Christchurch this morning.
Justice Cameron Mander immediately convicted Tarrant on all charges and said a sentencing date would be set on May 1 once coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand are eased to make a hearing possible.
Such was his shock admission, authorities did not have time to even tell the families of the victims about it.
Tarrant made international headlines when he stormed into the Masjid Al Noor and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch and live-streamed his slaughter of worshippers.
He had earlier posted extreme right wing thoughts about killing Muslims.
The city’s two imams Gamal Fouda and Alabi Lateef were invited to court to witness proceedings.
Fouda openly cried as the court register read all 51 victims’ names aloud and asked Tarrant appearing via video link to plead.