Jacinda Ardern denies the NZ gunman the one thing he wants

NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has come out swinging, promising she will never say the one thing the accused gunman wants to hear.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern plans to deny the accused Christchurch terrorist the one thing he wants: notoriety.

Speaking to reporters in Wellington this afternoon, Ms Ardern said she will never say his name.

“One thing I can assure you — you won’t hear me speak his name,” she said.

The PM was resolute about denying him a platform to further explain why he allegedly carried out the massacre at two mosques on Friday, killing 50 people and wounding dozens more.

She declared she would do everything in her power to stop him from sharing his views.

“I agree that it is absolutely something that we need to acknowledge, and do what we can to prevent the notoriety that this individual seeks,” she said.

“He obviously had a range of reasons for committing this atrocious terrorist attack. Lifting his profile was one of them. And that’s something that we can absolutely deny him.”

Inside parliament, she went a step further.

“He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless. And to others, I implore you, speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them.

“He may have sought notoriety, but we in New Zealand will give him nothing. Not even his name.”

Ms Ardern, who opened parliament with a Muslim prayer, said she would prefer the accused mass killer’s trial play out behind closed doors but admitted it was not her decision to make.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won’t speak the accused killer’s name. Picture: Mark Tantrum/Getty Images

Brenton Tarrant told his duty lawyer after his initial court appearance that he would prefer to represent himself at his next hearing before a High Court judge on April 5.

Ms Ardern was frustrated about how long it has taken Facebook to remove all videos of the shooting from its platform.

Facebook has removed more than 1.5 million videos showing the livestream footage of the attack but there are still some out there.

“We have been in contact with Facebook; they have given us updates on their efforts to have it removed, but as I say, it’s our view that it cannot — should not — be distributed, available, able to be viewed,” she said.

“It is horrendous and while they’ve given us those assurances, ultimately the responsibility does sit with them.”

"We cannot allow this to happen again," says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, as she details the timeline of New Zealand's gun law reforms after the #ChristchurchTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/WdwvYkzfWv

— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) March 19, 2019

SHOOTER’S MISTAKE THAT SAVED DOZENS

Minutes after shooting dead 42 people at Christchurch’s Al Noor mosque, Australian gunman Brenton Tarrant turned his attention to inflicting the same horror at nearby Linwood mosque.

But those who survived the second shooting say he made a critical tactical error that spared dozens of lives.

As Tarrant approached the mosque dressed in a big jacket and gloves and carrying a large weapon, he inadvertently bypassed the main entrance and was seen by worshippers.

Instead, he went to the back of the building, opposite the front entrance, and shot at a window before entering.

Mohammed Akheel Uddin, who had just been checking vehicle parking outside, saw Tarrant as he approached the back of the building while 100 Muslims prayed inside.

“I said ‘Getting down. Something is happening outside. People get on the floor’,” he told stuff.co.nz.

Accused mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant livestreamed his terror attack. Picture: AP

“I called the people to get inside the ladies section. It’s a safe place, you can lock it from inside. Then I saw him. He was six to eight feet in front of me.

“By the time he was in the right place we hide ourselves. It was panic. It was a very terrible situation … if he was coming straight away to the main door, everybody would be maybe no more here.”

The survivor of New Zealand’s worst ever terror attack said he called police to warn them the shooter may attack the Al Noor mosque not knowing Tarrant had been there first.

SURVIVOR’S EXTRAORDINARY ADMISSION

A survivor of the New Zealand mosque massacre whose wife was one of 50 victims killed in the shooting says that while he doesn’t support the accused gunman’s actions he “love(s) that person because he is a human”.

Farid Ahmed, a senior member of Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, was paralysed after a drunk driver struck him six years ago. When accused shooter Brenton Tarrant on Friday allegedly opened fire on worshippers inside the venue, Mr Ahmed’s wife Husna, rushed to her wheelchair-bound husband’s aid. As she made her way towards him, she was shot from behind, and killed.

“I was asked ‘how do you feel about the person who killed your wife?’ and I said ‘I love that person because he is a human, a brother of mine,” Mr Ahmed told the New Zealand Herald.

“I do not support what he did - he got it wrong.

“But maybe he was hurt, maybe something happened to him in his life … but the bottom line is, he is a brother of mine.

“I have forgiven him and I am sure if my wife was alive she would have done the same thing.

“I hold no grudge.”

Farid Ahmed, who survived the Al Noor mosque shootings but his wife Husna was killed, is pictured two days after the incident. Picture: David Moir / AFP.

Fifty people were killed in the attack last Friday, and dozens more were injured when Tarrant allegedly filmed himself shooting people at two city mosques.

But legal experts in New Zealand fear the accused killer could use his trial to showcase his evil manifesto.

A former senior Crown prosecutor, Ross Burns, said if Tarrant faced a trial on terrorism charges it could lead to a long, drawn-out affair — which he could use “to espouse his ideological reasons”.

Christchurch massacre victim Husna Ahmed.

Mr Burns told NZ website Stuff prosecutors instead could favour a straight murder trial where only two things had to proven, whether the accused did it and if it was his intention to kill.

Charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act must prove it was done for ideological or political reasons, and was intended to terrorise the community.

“In my view, the elements are all made out, but to minimise the impact on victims, straight murder is easier to prove.

“And there’s less scope to use a platform to espouse his ideological reasons.”

The 17-minute livestreamed video - which has caused revulsion around the world - and the hate-filled document he placed online before the shootings would be key parts of any criminal trial.

Christchurch is seeing a level of security that New Zealanders are not used to.

Tarrant has reportedly indicated he would represent himself. The legal representatives who acted for him on Saturday was a duty lawyer, so reports he fired them were not accurate.

Reports from New Zealand suggest Tarrant has been warned he is a marked man by gang members.

PRISONER ‘WARNED’

The New Zealand Herald reported one gang member said: “We’ve got friends inside too”.

The paper said the gang member didn’t elaborate but the “meaning was clear”.

“Threats should be taken very seriously,” said Canterbury University criminologist Greg Newbold, who has spent time in prison himself earlier in his life.

“I would take that very seriously and I would say he would be in extreme danger.

“There will be people in prison who will be pretty angry about it, particularly the fact that he’s a white supremacist,” he told the Herald.

Mr Newbold said it was possible he could spend the rest of his life in segregation, and at least the next five to 10 years in “effective” solitary confinement - for his own safety.

“He could easily be killed.”

Australians are showing their support for the Christchurch massacre victims like at this vigil held in front of the state library in Melbourne’s CBD. Picture: Jason Edwards

Tarrant has so far been charged with a single count of murder and has been remanded to a maximum-security prison where he is being watched 24/7 ahead of his return to court early next month.

Tarrant is an Australian citizen from Grafton, in New South Wales. Police and intelligence services on both sides of the Tasman have been probing his movements in recent years as he made his way out of both countries and into Europe.

Tarrant said in his online document New Zealand was not the original intended target, but he changed his mind after moving to Dunedin, in the South Island, to train and prepare. Once there, he allegedly selected it for the attack because of its image as one of the safest countries in the world.

AUSTRALIANS TOLD TO BE CAREFUL

Australians have responded to the attacks with shock and outrage, but the Federal Government has warned citizens travelling overseas to avoid protests in case they find themselves targeted.

The government would monitor any threat Australian tourists could face.

“The terrorist attack, motivated by extreme right-wing ideology, has drawn strong condemnation internationally,” it said in a statement on the Smart Traveller website.

“Demonstrations and protests against Australia may occur. Australians travelling overseas should continue to use common sense, be vigilant and exercise caution. They should look out for and report suspicious behaviour, as they would in Australia.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has vowed the country would introduce tough new gun laws.

“They should monitor the media and other sources for information about possible new safety or security threats, and follow the advice of local authorities. They should avoid demonstrations and protests, as they can turn violent.”

ONLINE CHANGES?

Meanwhile, former prime minister Tony Abbott believes authorities must “wake up to themselves” and police social media more closely after the mosque massacre.

The alleged gunman behind Friday’s mass shooting, which was live-streamed on Facebook, used his real name and photograph.

Nonetheless, Mr Abbott is concerned extremists are free to exist in anonymity on Facebook and other platforms.

“You should only be able to go online as yourself, under your real name. We’ve got to end it, we absolutely have to end it,” Mr Abbott told 2GB radio today.

“We’ve got to clean this thing up otherwise it will do us untold damage.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Bill Shorten have also taken aim at social media companies for not doing enough to ensure the vision of the attack was not republished.

-with AAP