Brenton Tarrant, whose Facebook page streamed a graphic and extremely disturbing live video that shows him fatally shooting multiple, defenseless people at a Christchurch mosque, had a now-suspended Twitter page in which he shared articles about terror attacks and posted pictures of weapons with the names of far-right mass shooters scrawled on them.
Although the social media page was suspended shortly after the attack at the New Zealand mosque (and another close by), Heavy was able to review and save the contents of the Twitter account, which you can read throughout this article. Be forewarned that it’s all extremely disturbing. The Twitter page contains several links out to a rambling and troubling manifesto called “The Great Replacement.” Heavy has reviewed the document but is not publishing it in full. You can see a summary and a few excerpts below.
A screenshot from the Brenton Tarrant video
The shooter flashed a white power sign in his first court appearance.
GettyBrenton Tarrant in court.
The shooter’s Facebook page is now deleted, but the full live video has popped up on several sites online. Its contents are graphic and extremely disturbing as it shows the gunman murdering multiple people and even going back to shoot at them again. In one of the most disturbing scenes in the horrific livestream video, the shooter shoots a woman in the head as she lies wounded on a sidewalk pleading for help. You can see a roundup of tributes to all of the victims here as their names are released.
A screenshot from Brenton Tarrant’s now-suspended Twitter page.
The mass murder has horrified the world and caused New Zealand to temporarily ask all mosques to close their doors.
Brenton Tarrant tweet
At least 50 people were killed in the terror attacks, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press conference. Another 20 people were critically injured. Three people have been detained, including the man who identified himself as Tarrant. He fired at least 205 times from four rifles and used multiple magazines, stopping to reload. One of the first victims to be identified is Daoud Nabi; his son told NBC News that his dad heroically died while trying to shield another person. You can read a tribute to him here.
In addition, a person who appeared to be the same gunman also posted a link to the live video and manifesto in a chat thread called 8chan, which is described by The New York Times as “an online forum known for extremist right-wing discussion.” The user wrote, “Well lads, it’s time to stop sh*tposting and time to make a real life effort post. I will carry out and attack against the invaders, and will even live stream the attack via facebook.”
Various contributors to the extremely disturbing chat thread then cheered the writer on, with some posting Nazi symbols. “Best of luck Brenton Tarrant,” wrote one. “Brenton Tarrant is a f*cking hero” wrote another, as they watched it unfold live, sharing screenshots.
In his manifesto, Tarrant says he received the blessing from a group called the “reborn Knights Templar” (after the Christian soldiers during the Crusades) and indicates he was inspired by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, who also wrote a manifesto that talked about a reborn Knights Templar, although prosecutors thought Breivik made it up to inspire others. You can read more about Breivik and the so-called reborn Knights Templar here.
Here’s what you need to know about the gunman’s social media presence:
Tarrant’s Twitter Page Contains Numerous Shares of Stories About Terrorist Attacks, Fertility & Muslims
TwitterBrenton Tarrant Twitter page picture
The Twitter page in Brenton Tarrant’s name was filled with anti-Muslim and immigration sentiments and photos of weaponry. The gunman also posted the lengthy manifesto on Twitter that laments declining birthrates among Europeans and “mass immigration” and declares it “white genocide.”
TwitterThe disturbing photo on the Brenton Tarrant Twitter page
The cover picture of the Twitter page in the name Brenton Tarrant shows a body lying on the ground with a doll next to it. Writings on the weaponry displayed on Twitter match news accounts that say the Christchurch gunman scrawled the names of other mass shooters on his rifle.
A picture on Brenton Tarrant’s now deleted Twitter page.
On Twitter, the Brenton Tarrant page posted about Muslims, birthrates, white genocide, and terrorist attacks. “How many of these attacks are quickly forgotten?” he wrote on Twitter on March 12, 2019 shortly after sharing a news story on an attack by an immigrant against a girl in Sweden. “God bless the fallen,” he wrote.
TwitterBrenton Tarrant Twitter page
Here are some of his posts. He also posted about white women having lower fertility rates and shared stories on extremists in the German military and the “global Muslim population.”
Brenton Tarrant
Many of his posts were retweets of news stories negative toward immigrants and Muslims.
He shared a video that references Charlottesville.
Stuff reported that the gunman scrawled the names of other attackers on his rifle, including Alexandre Bissonette and Luca Traini. There is a Twitter picture that shows those names.
Brenton Tarrant Twitter retweet
Bissonnette killed six people in a Quebec mosque. Traini targeted North African migrants in Italy. The writings on Twitter also mention Sebastiano Venier, who was a 1500s era commander in a Christian battle that defeated the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto.
The Facebook Live Video Shouldn’t Be Public, Authorities Say
Screenshot of the Tarrant video
“It’s very disturbing, it shouldn’t be in the public domain,” Police Commissioner Mike Bush said of the video. He also said, “Let’s not assume the danger is gone.”
At the beginning of the video, the gunman says, “subscribe to PewDiePie.” (YouTuber PewDiePie has responded, “Just heard news of the devastating reports from New Zealand Christchurch. I feel absolutely sickened having my name uttered by this person. My heart and thoughts go out to the victims, families and everyone affected by this tragedy.”)
NZHerald reported that the Christchurch gunman live streamed the shooting for 17 minutes in the video.
The extremely disturbing Facebook live video, in the name of Brenton Tarrant, shows the man walking toward the mosque through a gate and then up to the front door. You see him aim the gun at the door and start shooting. He walks past a dead body and screams erupt. He shoots several people in a hall and then walks into a larger communal area and shoots other people. Bodies lay crumpled on the ground. A man runs past at one point and he reloads. It’s impossible to describe how disturbing the graphic video is. “We’re not going to get the badge today boys,” he says at one point. He plays music with the line: “I am the god of Hellfire, and I bring you fire.” He shoots out his car window at one point as he drives around.
You can see writing on his rifle as he walks around shooting people randomly. He then walks into the area and shoots at bodies already lying on the ground. Back in the car, he says at one point, “did not go as planned … f*cking Christ.” It’s not clear what he meant. He also labels what happened a “firefight,” even though he was the only person with a gun.
According to RNZ, a New Zealand radio outlet, an eyewitness reported seeing people “lying on the ground,” and commented: “there was blood everywhere.”
The Manifesto Ends With the Phrase ‘Europe Arises’
The gunman gets his weaponry from his car.
The end of the manifesto proclaims, “Europa arises.”
The Brenton Tarrant manifesto contains a bizarre question-and-answer section that reads like an interview. Who is he?
“Just a ordinary white man, 28 years old,” the manifesto explains. “Born in Australia to a working class, low income family. My parents are of Scottish, Irish and English stock. I had a regular childhood, without any great issues. I had little interest in education during my schooling, barely achieving a passing grade.” He claimed he invested in “bitconnect,” used the money to travel, and added, “I am just a regular white man, from a regular family. Who decided to take a stand to ensure a future for my people.”
Heavy is choosing not to publish the entire document, but here is a section to give you a sense of the shooter’s mindset.
Part of the Brenton Tarrant manifesto.
The manifesto is basically a lengthy rant of supposed racial grievance.
“It’s the birthrates. It’s the birthrates. It’s the birthrates. If there is one thing I want you to remember from these writings, its that the birthrates must change,” he writes. “Even if we were to deport all Non-Europeans from our lands tomorrow, the European people would still be spiraling into decay and eventual death.”
The manifesto also rants about “mass immigration” in juxtaposition to European birthrates. He calls it a “crisis of mass immigration and sub-replacement fertility” and calls that “an assault on the European people.” In another spot, the manifesto rants about killing prominent politicians: “KILL ANGELA MERKEL, KILL ERDOGAN, KILL SADIQ KHAN.”
Asked why he is resorting to violence, he explained, “There is no nation in the world that wasn’t founded by, or maintained by, the use of force. Force is power. History is the history of power. Violence is power and violence is the reality of history. Wake up.”
He said that “Australian (sic) is a European colony, particularly of British stock and thereby an extension of Europe.” He said he blamed immigrants and capitalists and added, “I blame both, and plan to deal with both.”
As to why he attacked Muslims, he wrote, “They are the most despised group of invaders in the West, attacking them receives the greatest level of support.” He ranted about climate change, saying that by killing “the invaders” he could “kill the overpopulation and by doing so save the environment.”
Part of his manifesto contains a passage headlined “to conservatives.”
“Conservatism is dead. Thank God. Now let us bury it and move on to something of worth,” he wrote. Another section was headlined “to Christians.” He wrote, “Let our lives be stronger than death to fight against the enemies of the Christian people.”
Another passage was headlined “to Antifa/Marxists/Communists.” He explained, “I do not want to convert you…I want you in my sights. I want your neck under my boot.”
The manifesto refers to Turks as “roaches” and orders them to “flee to your own lands, while you still have the chance.” He claimed that European men “are to blame. Weak men have created this situation and strong men are needed to fix it.”
He trashes “suicidal, nihilistic and degenerate pop icons produced from a dead culture,” mentioning Michael Jackson, Madonna, Kurt Cobain, and Freddy Mercury.
He advocates something called “green nationalism.” He urges people to kill “high profile enemies,” saying that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, “the mother of all things anti-white and anti-germanic, is top of the list.”