Livestream terror shocks the world

A right-wing extremist who fil med himself rampaging through two mosques in the quiet New Zealand city of Christchurch killing 49 worshippers appeared in court on a murder charge yesterday. Australian-born 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant appeared in the dock wearing handcuffs and a white prison shirt, sitting impassively as the judge read a single murder charge against him. A raft of further charges are expected.

The former fitness instructor and self-professed fascist occasionally turned to look at media present in court during the brief hearing that was held behind closed doors for security reasons. He did not request bail and was taken into custody until his next court appearance scheduled for April 5. Forty-two people are still being treated in hospital for injuries, including a four year old child, after an attack thought to be the deadliest directed against Muslims in the West in modern times. Outside the court, guarded by heavily armed police in body armour, the sons of 71-year-old Afghan man Daoud Nabi demanded justice. “It’s outrageous, the feeling is outrageous,” he said. “It’s beyond imagination.” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Saturday the victims were from across the Muslim world, with Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia among the countries rendering consular assistance.

Afghan who ran into gunfire An Afghan man, thought to be in his 60s or 70s, died after he reportedly ran into the line of fire to save fellow worshippers at the Al Noor mosque in central Christchurch. Daoud Nabi had lived in New Zealand for more than 40 years after fleeing Afghanistan as a refugee in the late 1970s, and believed his adopted home to be a “slice of paradise”, his son Omar said. Omar learnt his father had died after trying to shield someone else from a bullet. “I got told by my best friend’s father... that he leaped on somebody else to save their life,” he told Stuff.co.nz.

“He jumped in the firing line to save somebody else’s life and he has passed away.” Another of Daoud’s sons, Yama, was on the way to the mosque -- to make up with his father after a small falling out -- when he bumped into a friend outside who told him “your father saved my life. Your father saved my life”, according to Australian newspaper The Age. It wasn’t until Yama rewatched the gunman’s video of the rampage -- which he streamed on Facebook Live -- and saw his father lying dead on his back that he realised his father did not escape.

“I never thought it would happen in New Zealand. It’s a peaceful country,” Yama Nabi said, tears welling up in his eyes. There were reports on social media that Daoud Nabi had opened the door to the terrorist, greeting him with the words “hello brother”.