New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern wants the gunman forgotten. She refuses to say his name and has clamped down on the distribution of his video. She has urged the public to avoid giving the shooter the fame he seeks from his horrific act.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to representatives of the Muslim community on March 16, 2019 at the Canterbury Refugee Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, a day after the mass shootings at two mosques in the city. Ms. Ardern has stressed that she would not say the shooter's name to prevent giving him notoriety.
New Zealand's prime minister declared Tuesday she would do everything in her power to deny the accused mosque gunman a platform for elevating his white supremacist views, after the man dismissed his lawyer and opted to represent himself at his trial in the killings of 50 people.
"One thing I can assure you – you won't hear me speak his name," she said.
The shooter's desire for attention was made clear in a manifesto sent to Ms. Ardern's office and others before Friday's massacre and by his livestreamed footage of his attack on the Al Noor mosque.
The video prompted widespread revulsion and condemnation. Facebook said it removed 1.5 million versions of the video during the first 24 hours, but Ms. Ardern expressed frustration that the footage remained online, four days later.
"We have been in contact with Facebook; they have given us updates on their efforts to have it removed, but as I say, it's our view that it cannot – should not – be distributed, available, able to be viewed," she said. "It is horrendous and while they've given us those assurances, ultimately the responsibility does sit with them."
Ms. Arden said she had received "some communication" from Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg on the issue. The prime minister has also spoken with British Prime Minister Theresa May about the importance of a global effort to clamp down on the distribution of such material.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also urged world leaders to crack down on social media companies that broadcast terrorist attacks. Mr. Morrison said he had written to G-20 chairman Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling for agreement on "clear consequences" for companies whose platforms are used to facilitate and normalize horrific acts.
Lawyer Richard Peters, who was assigned to represent Brenton Harrison Tarrant at his initial court appearance on Saturday, told the New Zealand Herald that Mr. Tarrant dismissed him that day.
A judge ordered Mr. Tarrant to return to New Zealand's High Court on April 5 for his next hearing on one count of murder, though he is expected to face additional charges. The Australian is being held in isolation in a Christchurch jail.
"He seemed quite clear and lucid, whereas this may seem like very irrational behavior," Mr. Peters told the newspaper. "He didn't appear to me to be facing any challenges or mental impairment, other than holding fairly extreme views."
Mr. Peters did not return a call from The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Mr. Peters told the paper that Mr. Tarrant didn't tell him why he wanted to represent himself. He said a judge could order a lawyer to assist Mr. Tarrant at a trial, but that Mr. Tarrant would likely be unsuccessful in trying to use it as a platform to put forward any extremist views.
Under New Zealand law, a trial is "to determine innocence or guilt," Mr. Peters said. "The court is not going to be very sympathetic to him if he wants to use the trial to express his own views."
Ms. Ardern previously has said her Cabinet had agreed in principle on tightening gun restrictions in New Zealand and those reforms would be announced next week. She also had announced an inquiry into the intelligence and security services' failures to detect the risk from the attacker or his plans. There have been concerns intelligence agencies were overly focused on the Muslim community in detecting and preventing security risks.
In Parliament on Tuesday, Ms. Ardern said there are justified questions and anger about how the attack could have happened in a place that prides itself on being open, peaceful, and diverse.
Islamic tradition calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible. Ms. Ardern has said authorities hope to release all the bodies by Wednesday.
Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly, of Sydney, traveled to Sydney to attend and lead some of the funerals. Through a translator, he said he felt compelled to travel to Christchurch to support the grieving. A nationwide lockdown on mosques was imposed until Monday, which Mr. Hilaly said had upset Muslims whom he had visited in Auckland. Police continue to guard mosques across the country.
Ms. Ezat is comforted by reports that Hussein confronted the killer, charging at him after surviving the first spray of bullets.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. Associated Press writers Stephen Wright and Steve McMorran contributed to this report.
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