A white supremacist charged with killing 51 people in terror attacks on two mosques in Christchurch last year will spend the rest of his life in prison, a New Zealand court ordered on Thursday.
Brenton Tarrant, a 29-year-old Australian national, refused his right to address the court during a sentencing hearing, leaving a court-appointed lawyer to indicate that he did not oppose the prosecution’s application for “life without parole”.
Justice Cameron Mander said Tarrant presented a grave risk to public safety, having targeted people because of their religion, ethnicity, race and colour during a “cowardly massacre”.
“Your crimes, however, are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation,” said Justice Mander, in handing down the first ever “life without parole” sentence in the Pacific nation.
“You remain empty of any empathy for the victims. You remain detached and appear entirely self-centred.”
Tarrant shot dead 51 worshippers on March 15 last year, injuring a further 49 people at the Masjid Al Noor and Linwood Islamic Centre mosques in Christchurch. It was the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history.
The former gym instructor used automatic weapons during the attacks, which were streamed live on the internet and broadcast by social media platforms, including Facebook. Tarrant posted online a 74-page racist “manifesto” ahead of the assault that analysts said was aimed at attracting as much attention as possible.
During the four-day sentencing hearing, the court heard victim impact statements related to the 51 murder charges and 40 attempted murder charges that he was convicted of in March. Some family members of the deceased addressed the court, detailing how the massacre had affected their lives and those of their communities.
The father of three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim, Tarrant’s youngest victim, said the Australian was an “evil man” whose actions had failed to sow hatred and fear.
“I will never forgive you for what you have done,” Aden Ibrahim Diriye told the court.
“Your atrocity and hatred did not turn out the way you expected. Instead it has united our Christchurch community, strengthened our faith, raised the honour of our families and brought our peaceful nation together.”
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, said the offender achieved the opposite of what he intended because the Muslim community was now stronger and supported by the country.
“The trauma of March 15 is not easily healed, but today I hope is the last where we have any cause to hear or utter the name of the terrorist behind it,” she said. “His deserves to be a lifetime of complete and utter silence.”
Naimah Talib, a politics lecturer at University of Canterbury, said the sentencing brought enormous relief to the Muslim community in Christchurch.
“Many here were surprised at Tarrant’s silence and his decision not to speak at the hearing. However, most in the community think that it is now time to move on and continue to rebuild the Muslim community,” she told the Financial Times.
“While the mosque shooting was a crushing blow to the small Muslim community here in Christchurch, the government’s compassionate response and the empathy shown by the rest of New Zealand helped with the grieving process.”