ADL: Alleged New Zealand Mosques Shooter Espoused White Supremacism

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has posted a report that the alleged March 14 shooter at two New Zealand mosques, who killed 49 people, promulgated white supremacism.

The alleged shooter, 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, had myriad “white supremacist symbols” on his now-defunct Twitter, according to the March 15 ADL report.

“These include a reference to the 14 words; a rallying cry for white supremacists: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children; a ‘sonnenrad’ or ‘sunwheel’ patch, an ancient Indo-European symbol appropriated by Nazi Germany; an Othala rune, part of several runic alphabet systems common in pre-Roman Europe, which were adopted by the Nazis; the Celtic cross, used by neo-Nazis, racist skinheads, Ku Klux Klan members and virtually every other type of white supremacist; the Tyr rune, an ancient runic symbol that was appropriated by the Nazis and subsequently became popular among white supremacists, and Archangel Michael’s cross, a fascist symbol which actually stands for prison bars, because the Romanian fascist Codreanu claimed that while he was in prison he was inspired by an icon depicting the Archangel Michael,” the report states.

Tarrant’s apparent Facebook page featured a video praise of neo-Nazi James A. Fields for driving a car into counterprotesters during the 2017 Charlottesville riots, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. He also shared videos that featured “quotes from Oswald Mosely, a British politician who promoted fascism and anti-Semitism in Europe during the 1930s,” per the ADL report. His apparent Facebook page also featured rants about “declining birthrates among predominantly white countries including those in Europe and North America, in contrast with high birthrates among Muslims and Africans.”

The shooter’s apparent manifesto was branded with a symbol from the white supremacist group Order 15, according to the ADL.

“This attack underscores a trend that ADL has been tracking: that modern white supremacy is an international threat that knows no borders, being exported and globalized like never before,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “The hatred that led to violence in Pittsburgh and Charlottesville is finding new adherents around the world. Indeed, it appears that this attack was not just focused on New Zealand; it was intended to have a global impact.”