New Zealand mosque attacker who killed 51 appeals conviction

The man who attacked Muslims in New Zealand’s deadliest mass shooting is appealing his conviction and sentence.

Brenton Tarrant, an Australian who moved to New Zealand several years prior, killed 51 and left dozens injured during the March 15, 2019, attack on two mosques in the city of Christchurch. Tarrant, a white supremacist, livestreamed the attack on Facebook.

He pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism in 2020 and received New Zealand’s harshest sentence: life in prison with no potential for parole, the first time that sentence had been handed down in the country’s history.

“Your crimes, however, are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die, it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation,” Judge Cameron Mander said after sentencing him.

In previous court filings, Tarrant, 32, said he only pleaded guilty under duress after being kept in solitary confinement following the shooting and did not receive a fair trial.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who pledged previously to not say the killer’s name in order to not provide him notoriety, said he was attempting to “revictimize people.”

“His is a name that shouldn’t be repeated and I’m going to apply that same rule in commenting on his attempts to revictimize people. We should give him nothing.”

After the shooting, the New Zealand Parliament quickly passed stricter gun laws and bought back thousands of guns.

The specifics of the appeal were not made public and no date has been set for a court hearing.

With News Wire Services