Editing Brenton Tarrant (section)

== History ==

=== '''Prior to March 15th, 2019''' ===
Brenton Tarrant was born on October 27, 1990. He has a fascination with computers and spent a lot of time on them, according to accounts. At school, Tarrant was sometimes harassed because he used to be overweight, but he combated this by getting into weight lifting. Some time, Brenton Tarrant became obsessed with history, prominently in wars involving Muslims. Using finances from being a personal trainer<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-15/christchurch-shooting-brenton-tarrant-what-we-know/10904744 Christchurch shooter Brenton Tarrant was a personal trainer in Grafton], ''ABC News''</ref> and cryptocurrency investments, Brenton Tarrant traveled the world, visiting former Yugoslav republics, France, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Nepal, North Korea, and allegedly Russia along the way. 

With his hatred of Muslims, he had eventually started planning his attack around two years prior. Tarrant moved to New Zealand in 2017 for the sole purpose of his upcoming attack, and went to a gun club for practice and lived in an apartment for housing. His neighbors described him as "bizarrely quiet". Tarrant chose the location of his attack roughly 3 months in advance.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/hiding-in-plain-sight-in-quiet-new-zealand-city-alleged-gunman-plotted-carnage/2019/03/21/1846de9e-4a7b-11e9-8cfc-2c5d0999c21e_story.html ‘Hiding in plain sight’: In quiet New Zealand city, alleged gunman plotted carnage], ''The Washington Post''</ref>

=== '''March 15th, 2019''' ===
Tarrant uploaded a 74-page manifesto on 8chan displaying his xenophobic and prejudiced ideals describing himself as an "Ethno-nationalist, Eco-[[fascist]]" "Kebab removalist" "racist" who admired [[Oswald Mosley]] of the [[British Union of Fascists]] (BUF) and Norwegian terrorist [[Anders Behring Breivik]], along with a promise saying that he'll livestream an attack against the "invaders." He also expressed support for US president [[Donald Trump]], who he called a 'symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose'.<ref name = manifesto>[https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/03/15/new-zealand-terrorist-manifesto-influenced-far-right-online-ecosystem-hatewatch-finds New Zealand Terrorist Manifesto Influenced by Far-Right Online Ecosystem, Hatewatch Finds], ''SPLC Hatewatch''</ref>

=== '''March 15th, 2019 (Day of the shooting)''' ===

==== Al Noor Mosque ====
The live-stream began at 1:30, with Tarrant recording the interior of his Subaru Outback.<ref name = Facebook></ref> Rays of light shone on three rifles laying on a passenger seat. As Tarrant drove towards the mosque, he put a Serbian nationalist song called "Karadzic, Lead Your Serbs" (commonly known on the internet as "Remove Kebab", "God is a Serb", or "Serbia Strong") celebrating [[Radovan Karadžić]] (a Bosnian Serb politician who was found guilty of committing numerous acts of [[genocide]] and [[war crimes]] during the [[Yugoslav Wars]] of the 1990s) on the van's speakers; a mixtape made specifically for the attack.<ref>[https://www.rferl.org/a/christchurch-attacks-yugoslavia-tarrant-inspiration-suspect-new-zealand/29823655.html Christchurch Attacks: Suspect Took Inspiration From Former Yugoslavia's Ethnically Fueled Wars], ''Radio Free Europe''</ref>

Five minutes into the livestream, Tarrant parked into a driveway on Deans Avenue, specifically positioning his car into a quick getaway. The British Grenadiers song was now playing on a portable speaker attached to one of his weapons at this time. The man then began readying his guns and magazines for the attack, with both firearms covered with references to various historical figures and battles between the Ottoman Empire and European nations, white nationalist/neo-[[Nazi Party|Nazi]] symbolism and slogans such as the [[Fourteen Words]] and the Black Sun/Schwarze Sonne/Sonnenrad, Finsbury Park mosque van attacker [[Darren Osbourne]], Trollhattan sword attacker [[Anton Lundin Pettersson]], Macerata shooter Luca Traini and Quebec City mosque shooter [[Alexandre Bissonnette]].<ref>[https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3001957/new-zealand-mosque-shooter-who-called-himself-brenton-tarrant New Zealand shooting: Gunman, who called himself ‘Brenton Tarrant’, painted white supremacist icons on his guns], ''South China Morning Post''</ref> He left the car and crossed the street, towards the Al Noor mosque.

Few noticed him as he rushed towards the front entrance of the Al Noor mosque. Several figures met him at the entrance, one of them welcoming him in, saying "Hello brother." The nearest worshiper was looking away from Tarrant when he pointed his Mossberg 930 at the center of his back.<ref>[https://www.dailysabah.com/asia/2019/03/19/hello-brother-afghan-refugees-last-words-of-peace-to-nz-terrorist 'Hello brother': Afghan refugee's last words of peace to NZ terrorist], ''The Daily Sabah''</ref>

Near 1:40, just before regular Friday prayers, Tarrant opened fire. 3 people were killed near the entrance of the mosque, one of which crawled on the floor wounded before being shot again by Tarrant's M4E1. At first, people believed that the sounds of gunshots were just one of the mosque's speakers cracking, or someone banging on the window. However, people began hearing screaming, as one eyewitness reported.

Brenton's rampage was relentless once it started. He ran around the mosque, not hesitating to shoot anyone he saw. He would often return to the central prayer room, mowing down anyone who was hiding there. He used a strobe light to disorient victims. One person, later identified as Naeem Rashid, even ran straight into Tarrant, pushing him over, but was momentarily killed. During the shooting, he made multiple references to the genocide of Bosniaks during the [[Bosnian War]].

When Tarrant had no more moving targets to shoot at, he began shooting at people who were down, making sure they were dead and leaving nothing but bullets and gore behind. Two minutes after shooting, when a man exited the women's prayer room and attempted to escape out the front door, he was noticed by Tarrant and immediately shot and killed.

Afterwards, he ran outside the mosque to shoot and kill a boy who just fled the mosque and also fired several shots at a car where 12 worshippers were hiding in, but hurt no one and damaged the car. He rushed back to his car and grabbed an Ruger AR 556, before returning to the area and killing anyone who had managed to survive his first attack.

When he left the mosque for the final time, he shot Ansi Alibava who had just fled the massacre. She fell to the ground, screaming for help, but her pleas of help were silenced by Tarrant.

The man soon left the scene, shooting anyone he saw on the road. He shot someone who had pulled in front of him, and fired a Remington 870 at someone else, shattering their passenger window. One of the people he shot was a man and his father who were running late for prayers, and CCTV footage showed Tarrant shooting at them from his window before speeding off. Tarrant then speeds off at dangerous speeds with broken windows, but still manages to go undetected by police.

==== Linwood Islamic Centre ====
Tarrant, unsatisfied with massacring 40 people, drove to another mosque located 4 miles away. This portion of the attack was not livestreamed. As the police arrived at the Al-Noor Mosque, Brenton busted into Linwood's prayer room and opened fire. He reportedly shot old men as they were praying, and was responsible for the deaths of a 4 and 12-year-old boy. When a lady cried for help, he shot her point-blank in the face.

A young man who worked as a caretaker in the mosque saw an opportunity to stop the killings and pounced on Tarrant, snatching his gun away. Brenton fled to his car, and drove away as fast as he could.

Footage shown after the Linwood Islamic Centre attack shows one of Tarrant's discarded guns on the floor, with struggling and grieving people surrounding.

==== Arrest ====
Following a police chase shortly after, Tarrant's Subaru was rammed by police and forced against the wall near a curb. Officers dragged the superficially injured Tarrant from his seat, and was formally arrested.

When the day ended, Brenton Tarrant was responsible for 51 deaths, and injured 40 more. The age range of his victims was between 3 and 77.

=== '''March 16th, 2019''' ===
Tarrant appeared in court a day later. He was read his rights, and flashed an “OK” sign to the camera. In New Zealand, the footage of his face is censored, but it isn’t elsewhere.
==='''June 13th, 2019'''===
Tarrant pled not guilty to all charges of his heinous crimes, despite recording a significant portion of it.

=== '''October 3rd, 2019''' ===
Brenton Tarrant's legal team withdrew the plan to have the trial in Auckland. Instead, the trial will be held in Christchurch, much to the victims' families and friends, as well as survivors' satisfaction. The trial was earlier postponed to June of 2020 so that all Muslim witnesses and people affected may engage in Ramadan prior to the trial.

=== '''March 26, 2020''' ===
In a surprising turn of events, Tarrant pleaded guilty to all charges. For the first time since his court appearance on March 16, 2019 that was infamous for Tarrant flashing an “OK” sign, Tarrant appeared to the public via video link. He appears to have lost a significant amount of weight.

=== August 27, 2020 ===
After refusing the opportunity to address the court, Tarrant was sentenced to 51 consecutive life sentences without parole.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/world/asia/christchurch-brenton-tarrant-sentenced.html New Zealand Gives Christchurch Killer a Record Sentence], ''The New York Times''</ref> He also received additional prison time for attempted murder and terrorism. Following the sentencing, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters attempted to deport him to Australia to serve his sentence there, although no formal request was ever lodged.<ref>[https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/australia-open-to-taking-mass-killer-back-from-new-zealand-20200828-p55q5r.html Australia open to taking Christchurch gunman from New Zealand], ''The Sunday Morning Herald''</ref>

=== April 14, 2021 ===
Tarrant launched an appeal against his designation as a "terrorist entity" and the conditions of the "Prisoners of Extreme Risk Unit" in which he was being held. He abandoned this appeal just days after mounting it.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/23/christchurch-terrorist-drops-legal-challenge-over-new-zealand-prison-conditions Christchurch terrorist drops legal challenge over New Zealand prison conditions], ''The Guardian''</ref>