Christchurch Mosque Shooter Sentenced to Life in Prison

By Yousuf Ali

Brandan Tarrant, the white-supremacist terrorist who murdered at least 50 Muslims during Friday prayers in 2019 in Christchurch was sentenced to life in prison by a New Zealand Court on August 27. The sentence considered the harshest available in New Zealand, comes as the first of its kind to be imposed under the current set of laws in the country.

Tarrant will never leave jail and is expected to die in prison under this sentence. During the incident in question, he live-streamed the attack on Facebook for the world to see. The week leading up to the sentence was marked by the testimony of victims and their families who recounted their memory of the attack and explained the harm that the terror inflicted upon them and their families.

In addition to the victims, the judge had strong words for Tarrant regarding his crimes and lack of regret for them. “Your crimes are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation,”  High Court Judge Cameron Mander said when delivering the sentence, according to Al Jazeera. He added: “The hatred that lies at the heart f your hostility to particular members of the community that you came to this country to murder has no place here – it has no place anywhere.” Mander added that Tarrant showed no remorse for his actions and crime. 

“We respect our justice system and in New Zealand Muslim community, and the non-Muslim as well – we stood together against hate. And with it, our own model for the world. Extremists are all the same. Whether they use religions, nationalism or any other ideology” a spokesperson for the Al Noor Mosque said.

The country’s prime minister joined in with supportive words following the hearing.

“The trauma of March 15 is not easily healed, but today I hope is the last where we have any cause to hear or utter the name of the terrorist behind it. His deserves to be a lifetime of complete and utter silence,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.