I read the White Supremacist Terrorist’s manifesto when it was first published online in the early hours post the obscene violence he unleashed on the people and Muslims of Christchurch and New Zealand.
There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that he is a white supremacist with all the warped logic and mutated historic arguments to back that intellectual malfeasance up.
We can not amputate this philosophical dimension of the Terrorist’s actions, by doing so we rob ourselves collectively of the obligation and responsibility to truly repudiate that twisted hateful logic, and that is a feature that is desperately needed here because it makes it clear to those young white alienated males who are susceptible to this hate virus how utterly corrupt the concept of white supremacy truly is.
So that’s why I always refer to him as a White Supremacist Terrorist.
Because that’s what he is.
So what now?
This terrible wound and what it revealed about ourselves demands reflection and action. These are 3 things off the top of my head.
1 – I think those Muslim voices who were ignored for so long regarding street intimidation and abuse towards Muslims in public must be forefront of any new Policing Community tactics and if needed, a specific focus on proactively catching this type of violence. Muslims must feel free to be safe in public or else we are failing not them, but basic society as well. This safety in public message is valid for everyone.
2 – The screws have to go on our Intelligence apparatus. They were too busy spying on Muslims, Journalists, Māori, Environmentalists, Greenpeace and MANA to notice a radicalised white supremacist was plotting an atrocity for 2 years on NZ soil, after crossing the border numerous times and after having multiple complaints made about his mental fitness to hold a firearms licence. I mean, if the Intelligence apparatus was actually doing its job, they would have seen this threat profile well before he could have done any harm.
We were terribly let down by the people who are supposed to see the threats coming, not just react to them.
3 – I think there needs to be a hard pause on the push to redefine hate speech to include religion. The freedom of speech fight is dreadfully fraught and easily knocked over, especially in the age of subjective social media rage. However, I certainly believe corporate social media have an obligation not to promote harm and must be held accountable to what they are generating. Moving the emphasis off the individuals right to expression from the individual and making it a corporate media’s responsibility protects the individuals right to free speech while punishing the network that promotes hateful speech.
Progress will be made slowly as the enormity of what was done still reverberates, but the need to learn from this demands our attention.
I hope the sentence this week gave some peace to those who suffered and it’s anniversary must bring us back to this debate annually to mark the progress of how far we’ve come.
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I am in no way disputing the points you raise Martyn. I have not had the opportunity to read his manifesto before it’s banning, not that I really wanted to or anything. If manifesto is indeed the correct word for such self indulgent type of excretions. I am interested in your take on it and really do have to bow to your better knowledge in this matter.
I have however seen reports from overseas media who have read it and they say he also comes across as a mixed, sad and pathetic individual who also admires the Chinese Communist party and sees it as the best form of government and, after a visit to North Korea of all places and he has nothing but praise for it. Is this true? If so it doesn’t sound very white supremacist to me. Those bits anyway.
And I have also seen news article reviews in which he is also seen as coming across as an extremist eco-warrior environmentalist out to start the great race war as well, a way to knock down the human population.
This is all stuff you’d never see on NZ media and I don’t want to come across as a tin foil hatter but I do get at least some of my news content from off shore and some things like that do stick in your mind once you’ve seen them.
The white supremacist terrorist is a sad little boy who wrote a pathetic wish list with no nuance or ability to implant on readers, it was basically a forced read that wanted readers to remember stuff from the deep past and history. No one will remember or care that I’ve read it and I can honestly say that I’m less of a person for having read it. He was a deadset terrorist agitator trying to fracture American society by attempting to make his recruitment and radicalization messages more appealing to a younger audience.
We are just so so lucky that the maggot of Christchurch was a complete moron with not even half the intellect of Osama Bin Ladden. We are just so lucky that the intellect, skill and experience were insufficient to overwhelm the might of New Zealand’s mighty Intelligence apparatus. Someone has to say something about them.
Sad is the day we allow the age of incrementalism be our support peacock. Don’t hide the pain behind polite words and we just have to let it be the fire that burns bright for change.
Shadow banning and direct censorship are leftist tools to suppress free speech, cancel culture is the result of miss education and a leftist education system, dissent from the party line is not tolerated in a socialist society,
Snow flakes cant stand the heat
Anyone remember cancel culture in 1930s Germany? Totally ridiculous ideology.
I for one am glad the p.o.s will never feel grass under his feet again. He is allowed the home channel on TV which I hope will only compound to him how small his lifelong cell is. My deepest sympathies and love to all who were affected by that monster
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