New Zealand cops probe threat to terror attack mosque
New Zealand police said Tuesday these were investigating a threat made this week against among the Christchurch mosques where 51 Muslim worshippers were killed in a mass shooting this past year.
Amid plans to mark the one-year anniversary of the March 15 massacre, police said the threat to Christchurch’s Al Noor mosque was posted this week on encrypted messaging app Telegram.
Reports said the message showed a man in a balaclava sitting in an automobile outside the mosque accompanied by threatening text and a gun emoji.
“We have strong leads that we’re following up and I’m confident that people will establish who this person is,” Canterbury police commander superintendent John Price told Radio New Zealand, adding, “We’re very close.”
Al Noor was 1 of 2 mosques targeted by a self-avowed white supremacist this past year in what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “an unprecedented act of terror (that) shattered our small country.”
The timing of the latest threat comes at a sensitive time as planning is underway for a memorial service in Christchurch to mark the anniversary.
Details of the service at the city’s Hagley Park have not yet been finalized but Ardern is defined to attend after gaining international praise on her behalf compassionate handling of the attacks.
Ardern said Tuesday that she found it hard to assume that New Zealand’s Muslim community was still being put through such hatred.
“I will be amidst many New Zealanders who will be devastated to see that as we head towards the one-year anniversary of a most horrific terror attack on the Muslim community, that they should then be the mark of this sort of activity,” she told reporters.
Price said he was encouraged a member of the public had reported the threat, saying that persons were acting to stamp out such online activity when they saw it.
“That’s just how we’ll conquer this problem in our society, is by everyone standing up and saying this is simply not OK,” he said.
The alleged mosque attacker Brenton Tarrant, an Australian national, is due to go on trial on June 2 facing terrorism charges plus 51 counts of murder and 40 of attempted murder over the killings.--AFP
