White supremacy rises in New Zealand after March 15 terror attack

Tuesday, 17 March 2020

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reflects on the last year following the Christchurch mosque shootings. First published in 2020.

The threat of white supremacist violence appears to have increased in New Zealand after the March 15 terror attack.

Spy bosses, Muslim community leaders, and academics warn that some people appear emboldened by last year's violence. New Zealand's terror threat level remains at medium, higher than it was prior to the attacks, meaning a terrorist attack 'could well occur'.

New Zealand Muslim Association President Ikhlaq Kashkari said while it was a small minority acting on their hate, resolving the threat would required a lot of work. More connections between communities were required, he said, to close a distance which creates misunderstanding.

Two weeks ago, an image of a masked man sitting in a car outside Christchurch's Al Noor mosque appeared on a messaging chat room that valourises the terror accused.

Anjum Rahman said conversations which Government agencies had improved, but there was still an absence of consultation with the Muslim community when it came to key policies, such as national security.

It was accompanied by a threat that implied the worshippers at the 'same mosque' would be greeting each other for the 'last time'.

Stuff has recently published details of a raft of messages and images sent by a leading member of a neo-Nazi group.

* Spy chiefs reveal Kiwis inspired by March 15 terror attack among those monitored

* What's public in the case of the soldier arrested for breaching national security

* Counter-terrorism detectives question far-right soldier's family and friends**

Sam Brittenden, 19, was charged with failing to assist with a search warrant, after police investigating a threat made against the Al Noor mosque arrested him.

New Zealand Muslim Association president Ikhlaq Kashkari told Stuff he knows of four or five instances of hateful speech, threats, or people lurking outside a mosque, that were reported to police in the past week.

'We're constantly getting messages of hate … There was a pause, obviously, after 15 March … Lately it's got quite bad. I assume it's because of the anniversary.'

Kashkari said while it was a small minority acting on their hate, resolving the threat would require a lot of work. More connections between communities were required, he said, to close a distance which creates misunderstanding.

Islamic Women's Council national coordinator Anjum Rahman said there were people emboldened by the attack, and the level of hate was 'back to where we were before the 15th of March'.

Rahman and her fellow council members had met with Government agencies in the years prior to the attack, expressing their concern about discrimination, rising levels of hate, and a more organised and resourced far-Right.

'We had expressed our hope that the authorities were treating it more seriously, and were giving more attention to alt-right and white supremacist groups.'

Rahman said conversations with government agencies had improved, but there was still an absence of consultation with the Muslim community when it came to key policies, such as national security.

There has been some indication the authorities are taking white supremacy more seriously. Security Intelligence Service (SIS) director-general Rebecca Kitteridge has said the agency has investigated more people, between 30 and 50 at any one time.

Many were people with white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and 'identitarian' beliefs, Kitteridge said.

But an SIS spokesman would not provide an estimate of how many such people have presented such concerns, when asked on Friday.

Members of Action Zealandia, a far-Right group that begun recruiting for members at the end of July. The group, which is part of a wider identitarian movement found in Australia, US and Europe, is fearful of 'replacement' and holds views which have influenced both the alleged Christchurch and El Paso mass shooters. Members of the group hide their identities out of fear.

'The numbers continually vary,' a statement read.

Two people affiliated with white nationalist groups have been arrested in recent months.

A 27-year-old soldier was arrested in November, and charged with disclosing information that prejudiced the security or defence of New Zealand. He was later revealed to be a leading member of the 'Dominion Movement', an identitarian group which hastily shut down its web presence in the hours after the March 15 attack.

Members of the shuttered group formed 'Action Zealandia' in July 2019. It continues to promote identitarianism, a white nationalist movement that attracts young men who, behind pseudonyms on chat rooms, have been seen to praise Hitler and discuss the March 15 attack.

The terror accused had donated thousands to similar identitarian groups in Australia, Austria, and France, before the attacks.

A known member, 19-year-old Sam Brittenden, was arrested two weeks ago by police investigating the threat made against the Al Noor mosque. He was charged with failing to assist with a search warrant.

Activists from Paparoa, an anti-fascist group which has monitored far-Right groups in the wake of March 15, estimate fewer than 20 young men make up its core members, a portion of a wider cohort of young neo-Nazi believers who interact online.

Dr Chris Wilson, a University of Auckland senior lecturer who specialises in political violence, said Action Zealandia's polished identitarianism masked its members' fascist politics, and desire to overthrow democracy and create a white ethno-state.

But it was the dynamics within such a group that posed the primary threat, he said. Members may become increasingly radicialised as groups compete for legitimacy and attention, and new groups splinter off.

'You've got people who are inspired by [the terror accused] … There's a whole new realisation among these young, aggrieved, economically precarious, white men that there's an ideology out there, a global movement,' Wilson said.

'It's a new world, and the risk of violence is there in a way that it wasn't before.'