Accused Christchurch mass killer Brenton Tarrant emerges as far right extremist ‘hero’

Accused Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant has emerged as a hero among other killers and extremists.

Despite a government-driven crackdown on right wing hate sites like 8chan and 4chan, which Brenton Tarrant was known to have visited, he has emerged as a hero among other killers and extremists. Picture: Mark Mitchell/AP

Accused Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant has become a role model for other far-right extremists, several of whom have tried to emulate the gruesome live-streaming of his shooting and match his ‘’kill-count’’.

Despite a government-driven crackdown on right wing hate sites like 8chan and 4chan, which Tarrant was known to have visited, the former personal trainer from Grafton has emerged as a hero among other killers and extremists.

An investigation by The Wall Street Journal has uncovered numerous links between Tarrant, who is accused of killing 51 people in an attack on two Christchurch mosques, and other acts of terrorism.

It cites a post by John Earnest, a 20-year-old from San Diego who is accused of graffitiing a mosque with pro-Tarrant slogans before attacking a synagogue and killing one person.

“For Brenton Tarrant –t/pol/’’ Ernest wrote, a reference to an online forum for hate speech.

Earnest later posted a statement to 8chan, a notorious right wing hate site, saying, “I’ve only been lurking for a year and a half, yet, what I’ve learned here is priceless. Tarrant was a catalysts for me personally … I only wish to inspire others.’’

 

Earnest also allegedly tried to live-stream his attack, something Brenton Tarrant did to gruesome effect, giving his March 15 killing spree a deliberate video gamer’s aesthetic.

But Earnest’s link failed and the fact that he ‘’only’’ killed one person, drew derision from the site’s anonymous posters.

“What the f- shooting style is this,’’ wrote one. “Garbage.’’

A second accused terrorist, 21-year-old Norwegian Philip Manshaus, also posted a tribute to Tarrant before attacking an Oslo mosque, injuring one.

“It’s my time,’’ the paper reports him saying. “I was elected by Saint Tarrant.’’

Like Earnest, Manshaus also tried and failed to live stream his crime.

The paper’s investigation underscores the often self-perpetuating nature of right wing violence, with mass shooters drawing inspiration from other shooters.

In his manifesto posted online moments before the attack, Tarrant praised Norwegian killer Anders Breivik who killed 77 people in a series of terrorist attacks in Norway in 2011 and Dylann Roof, the Charleston church shooter who killed nine African-American parishioners in 2015.