FACTS ON THE CHRISTCHURCH SHOOTING.
Actual facts, from someone who was in Christchurch at the time, because some people don’t know this stuff, or have been told lies.
1. This was a terrorist attack. There is no other word for it. It was terrorism. Calling it something else is incredibly disrespectful.
2. At least 49 people are dead. 40 died in the Al Noor Mosque on Deans Ave, 7 in the Linwood Mosque on Linwood Avenue, and one other died in hospital. This included children as young as two years old. More bodies are being found as the investigations progress.
3. The shooting was purposeful. It was not a spur of the moment decision. It was a planned attack. It was on a Friday, the muslim’s holy holiday, when they were in their afternoon prayer. The attack was at the mosques, to hit them when they were supposed to be safe. The attack a have been described by the Police Commissioner as a “very well-planned event”, and firearms were found at both mosques.
4. There were home-made bombs planted in two cars which were left around the city. Further proof, if you really need it, that it was planned.
5. The terrorists originally planned to attack Dunedin, but instead decided on Christchurch. No one really knows why.
6. They attacked New Zealand on purpose, to prove that no where is safe from fear and hate. New Zealand is seen as a safe country, and normally doesn’t see much violence.
7. This attack was the worst that the country has ever seen. The previous worst was in 1990, when 13 people were killed in a mass shooting. There is a reason why this is such a big deal. For a large portion of the country, this is something very new. If you compare it to the USA, it would be on scale of 3,344 people being killed in a shooting.
8. The attack started at roughly 1:40pm local time. At that time, schools were still in session and businesses were starting the afternoon shift. It was also halfway through a Climate Change strike, in which over a thousand students went on strike from their schools to protest politicians not doing enough about climate change. Most of these students were then moved into the new library next to where the strike was taking place, and ended up staying there for over 4 hours.
9. After the attack started, the city centre went into lockdown. All Christchurch schools went into lockdown. All public spaces, and bus services, went into lockdown. This lockdown lasted for hours. The only way that anyone could contact anyone else was with the technology they had with them.
10. On that Friday, four people were arrested. One of these people was a civilian, who dressed in camouflage and carried a gun with the intent of helping the police, but didn’t let the police know. Two others were arrested for carrying firearms, but may not have been involved with the attacks. The last one was Brenton Tarrant.
11. The terrorist who live-streamed the attack on Twitter, Brenton Tarrant, is an Australian citizen, and a Dunedin resident. This wasn’t the work of an immigrant, or a refugee. You can’t blame them for this occurring.
12. PewDiePie was not responsible for the attack. The terrorist shouting “subscribe to PewDiePie” was him trying to incite reactions online, and distract people from caring about the humans who were killed and injured in the attacks.
13. Brenton Tarrant has a firearms license, and owned five guns. Because of this attack, the NZ gun laws are going to change, hopefully making it harder for anything like this to ever happen again (take notes America). A ban on semi-automatic weapons is definitely on the list for changes to the laws.
14. None of the detained people had criminal records, or were on any watch lists in New Zealand or Australia.
15. Muslims currently make up roughly 1.1% of the New Zealand population of 4.25 million. That equates to over 45,000 individuals. For us, that is a lot.
16. The list of victims has not yet been released, but it includes:
Naeem Rashid, 50, who tried to tackle the terrorist at Al Noor mosque, before being shot, and his 21-year-old son Talha, who had been living with his father in New Zealand since 2010.
Sayyad Milne, 14, who wanted to be a footballer when he grew up.
Daoud Nabi, 71, who is believed to have thrown himself in front of other people in the mosque to protect them.
Khaled Mustafa, a refugee from the war in Syria.
Hosne Ara, 42, killed while searching for her husband who uses a wheelchair - he survived.
These are the people who we should be remembering and commemorating, not terrorists.
DON’T be caught up in gossip. DON’T believe anything and everything that you are told. DON’T do what these terrorists want, and put them ahead of the victims.
Think, feel, and remember your humanity. Please. Don’t descend to their level.
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