Christchurch Mosque Shooting

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Lock him up!
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# 2199433 16-Mar-2019 11:51

freitasm:

On a private property - e.g. Geekzone - this works well. In public, censorship can be easily used to mute the cries of oppressed people. I suggest reading Fascism: A Warning, by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to see how perfectly legal laws that protect the citizen's rights can be used for evil when the wrong people get to power, pushed up through the ranks thanks to populist movements and wrong messages like the one spouted by nationalists.

This also concerns me but I now think it is the lesser of evils. There could be some kind of more formal appeals process along with the censorship. But if nothing is done, the monsters who spread this poison and celebrate the results will win anyway.

I don't think there is ever a bad time to talk about how absurd war is, how old men make decisions and young people die. - George Clooney

Sideface

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# 2199434 16-Mar-2019 11:53

I posted this elsewhere in error -

I am posting it in full as it is behind a paywall

The New York Times - The New Zealand Massacre Was Made to Go Viral

The attack marks a grim new age of social media-fueled terrorism.

By Charlie Warzel

Mr. Warzel is an Opinion writer at large.

March 15, 2019

On Friday, a gunman strapped on a helmet camera, loaded his car with weapons, drove to a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand and began shooting at anyone who came into his line of vision. The act of mass terror was broadcast live for the world to watch on social media.

Forty-nine people were killed in the attack, which occurred at two different mosques in the city.

A 17-minute video of a portion of the attack, which leapt across the internet faster than social media censors could remove it, is one of the most disturbing, high-definition records of a mass casualty attack of the digital age - a grotesque first-person-shooter-like documentation of man’s capacity for inhumanity.

Videos of attacks are designed to amplify the terror, of course. But what makes this atrocity “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence,” as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it, is both the methodical nature in which the massacre was conducted and how it was apparently engineered for maximum virality.

Though platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube scrambled to take down the recording and an accompanying manifesto apparently from the gunman, they were no match for the speed of their users; new artificial-intelligence tools created to scrub such platforms of terrorist content could not defeat human cunning and impulse to gawk. In minutes, the video was downloaded and mirrored onto additional platforms where it ricocheted around the globe. Still frames of bodies were screenshotted and uploaded to sites like Reddit, 4chan and Twitter where it was shared and reshared.

Some Twitter users described frantically trying to stop videos in their feeds from autoplaying, so as not to be bombarded with the recording of the carnage from around the globe.

Internet users dredged up the alleged shooter’s digital history, preserving and sharing images of weapons and body armor. The gunman’s apparent digital footprint - from the rantings of a White Nationalist manifesto to his 8chan message board postings before the murders - was unearthed and, for a time, distributed into far-flung corners of the web.

The killer wanted the world’s attention, and by committing an act of mass terror, he was able to get it.

It was not the first act of violence to be broadcast in real-time.

In 2015, two reporters in Roanoke, Virginia were murdered by a gunman who posted the footage on Twitter. Not long after, Periscope, a live streaming app, came under fire after a teenager live-streamed her suicide.

Other murders have been broadcast live on Facebook, like the apparently random killing of Robert Godwin in 2017. There have also been numerous recording of encounters - sometimes fatal - with police. Since the live video tool debuted in late 2015, users have also broadcast rape and child abuse - a 2017 survey by BuzzFeed News found “at least 45 instances of violence” across the platform.

And yet the Christchurch shooting feels different, in part due to its perpetrator’s apparent familiarity with the darkest corners of the internet. The recording contains numerous references to online and meme culture, including name-checking a prominent YouTube personality shortly before beginning the attack.

The digital trail the shooter left behind appears to depict a white supremacist motivation for the attack. There is much, at this early date, that is unknown despite what’s been posted online. The 87-page manifesto, for instance, is filled with layers of ironic, self-referential commentary, apparently written to specifically enrage the communities that appear to have helped radicalize the gunman in the first place. It seems that the Christchurch shooter - who by his digital footprint appears to be native to the internet - understands both the platform dynamics that allow misinformation and divisive content to spread but also the way to sow discord.

As terrifying as the violence itself is, is how well the online community worked in the gunman’s favor. This may be our new reality. Not only has conspiratorial hate spread from the internet to real life, it’s also weaponized to go viral.

END

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DarthKermit

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# 2199436 16-Mar-2019 11:54

freitasm:

DarthKermit:

The only identified perp has appeared in court now and pleaded not guilt to one charge of murder. Been remanded in custody (what, no bail???) until April.

Nothing has been said about the other man and the woman who were also arrested.

One charge of murder? I hope there will be a lot more until April and after investigations conclude...

It's a formality to get him in the system. I assume they'll keep the loser in solitary for his own safety. I hope he likes his new accommodation, he can probably expect to spend the rest of his life in the slammer.

Al jazerra news reported he was smirking during his court appearance. You're famous now Brenton, congratulations! :(

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# 2199437 16-Mar-2019 11:55

freitasm:
@Coil:

freitasm:

From another article on NZ Herald:

A Christchurch man says he will seek compensation for wrongful arrest for wearing camouflage clothing yesterday while police were dealing with the mosques massacre.

Stephen Millar, a 30-year-old father of young children, said he was inadvertently caught up in the police operation when he arrived outside Papanui High School intending to pick up his 13-year-old brother-in-law.

A police officer held a gun to his head and ordered him down on the ground.

"I looked up at the cop and he said, 'Look at me again and I will shoot you'.

"I had no weapons on me."

"They had me on my knees, they had a gun in my face.

"I said, 'I've done nothing wrong. They said I was an idiot for wearing camouflage clothing."

Damn right he was an idiot for wear those clothes. People are dumb.

How is he to know that this was going to go down? The man could have been wearing a typical hunting and fishing camo jumper that many farmers and tradesmen wear. Ridiculous to suggest that.

Do you really think that after a shooting spree with 49 dead in the city and knowing the schools are in lockdown, it is sensible idea to go out wearing camo clothes?

Or are you being sarcastic and forgot the smiley?

Heck not everyone is immediately aware of the situation or could even understand the scale of it. Especially here in NZ the last thing you’d think is if you’re wearing a hunting jumper and go pickup a kid from school you’ll get arrested for being a terrorist.

Fred99

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# 2199439 16-Mar-2019 11:55

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freitasm:

DarthKermit:

The only identified perp has appeared in court now and pleaded not guilt to one charge of murder. Been remanded in custody (what, no bail???) until April.

Nothing has been said about the other man and the woman who were also arrested.

One charge of murder? I hope there will be a lot more until April and after investigations conclude...

The perpetrator was living in Dunedin - not Chch. I assume that the other two (still being held) were hosting him in Chch. I'd hazard a guess that the woman - who may have a child - was living at the same address. The other man arrested and released was a local resident, who saw police action in the Linwood area, went inside to get his (legally owned) gun and walked out onto the street with it FFS - thinking he was "helping" police. Doh!

The area where the other arrests were made is close to where a friend of my son lives. I've been there, it's a poor Chch suburb with cheap flats etc, and very multicultural.

This has been declared a terrorist act, it seems inconceivable to me that people who knew the perpetrator that well wouldn't have been aware of the danger he posed. Hiding a collection of semi-automatic rifles, who knows? Seems unlikely. I expect that police will be searching through everything with a fine tooth comb, and if they were aware and did nothing, then they'll be charged with terrorism related offenses. Even providing somewhere for him to stay is an offense with 14 years or life the maximum penalty. Very serious charges - so expect a very serious and thorough investigation.

freitasm

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# 2199441 16-Mar-2019 11:56

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Coil: Heck not everyone is immediately aware of the situation or could even understand the scale of it. Especially here in NZ the last thing you’d think is if you’re wearing a hunting jumper and go pickup a kid from school you’ll get arrested for being a terrorist.

On a scale of dumb to stupid, his situational awareness was very low then.

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dejadeadnz

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# 2199443 16-Mar-2019 11:59

Rikkitic:

I only heard about this horrible tragedy late yesterday as I was away and out of touch. I didn’t feel able to make an immediate full comment on it as I was still in the process of comprehending the enormity of it and I felt I needed time to come to terms with what had happened. I did not want to feed on it by simply making an emotional knee-jerk response.

Congrats on putting way more thinking into this than the usual platitudes-filled posts about coming together and all the rest of it. However, I'd say this about focusing so much on the alt/hard right: currently, a major fuel to their evil fire is the almost universally accepted (and unquestioned) premise that the lower and middle-lower economic classes in the western liberal democratic societies are being "screwed". I think this mentality is dangerous. Are they being screwed by the 1%, poor fiscal and economic policies, and the destruction of the welfare state? I agree entirely but I think too often the inquiry stops here and it's wrong. What I find dangerous is when mainstream politicians (either through historical ignorance, economic illiteracy, inability to see global geopolitical trends, negligence, or worse) continue to perpetuate the myth that we can get back to the halcyon days for these people where (looking at American movies as the most mainstream indicator of western cultural tropes/beliefs) anyone with a job (any job) can afford a nice-ish car, a nice long drive to picnic somewhere whenever they want on a weekend, and a nice looking house with a manicured front lawn.

The brutal reality is that those days aren't coming back. Simple economic reality tells us that the offshoring of low skilled and manual labour-based jobs (or their replacement by AI) is irresistible. People in those jobs will not be able to benefit from artificial trade-protectionist devices to prop up their pay. Yet politicians continue with the mendacious act of pretending that life will come back. And by continuing to perpetuating the myth that this will happen (if only you'd vote for the right people etc), they help to reinforce the tropes of unpopular people of other races inside or outside of the societies concerned stealing "our" (the white "mainstream"'s) rightful share. Now there are massively important questions to be confronted around how to upskill these lower-skilled workers, how to ensure that the disadvantaged within the rich societies can gain equal access to the ladder to climb up in the 21st century, and so forth. But no mainstream politician is generally willing to strongly say to these people: "Hey the Bangladeshis, Indians and [insert the name of any other developing country]" are entitled to their go at climbing up and in their doing so, you'll have to endure some pain and you aren't being screwed by them!". Until we right the quality of the mainstream's debate, the nutbags will always start off with the advantage of being able to rely on commonly-accepted tropes.

Then there are other fundamental questions to ask: is NZ really as wonderfully tolerant and amazing as the mainstream is again wanting to backslap it as? It might be comforting after a crisis like this but I think we need to ask more questions around whether we had done enough to reject this kind of ideology. But again I don't see this country as being willing or able to confront these hard questions. In this respect we are one of many.

Edit: typos

gzt

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# 2199447 16-Mar-2019 12:11

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Coil: Heck not everyone is immediately aware of the situation or could even understand the scale of it. Especially here in NZ the last thing you’d think is if you’re wearing a hunting jumper and go pickup a kid from school you’ll get arrested for being a terrorist.

Not exactly a hunting jumper. This army kit is not the best choice of clothing for picking up kids from a school lockdown. It's his everyday choice apparently. Even so, you would think he would be apologising for the timewaste and commending the police for doing everything possible to protect his younger brother and the other kids.

irongarment

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# 2199448 16-Mar-2019 12:11

freitasm:
Coil: Heck not everyone is immediately aware of the situation or could even understand the scale of it. Especially here in NZ the last thing you’d think is if you’re wearing a hunting jumper and go pickup a kid from school you’ll get arrested for being a terrorist.

On a scale of dumb to stupid, his situational awareness was very low then.

Luckily he didn't choose to wear brown skin that day.

Last I looked, being stupid wasn't illegal. Nor was any particular kind of clothing.

dejadeadnz

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# 2199451 16-Mar-2019 12:15

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The arrest appears on its face perfectly reasonable. I'd however have serious concerns if his allegation that the police officer made the threat that if he dared look at the cop again, he'd shot, is true. Whatever the situation was, that's not in comport with the law. That allegation should be investigated.

DarthKermit

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# 2199452 16-Mar-2019 12:18

Fred99:

The area where the other arrests were made is close to where a friend of my son lives. I've been there, it's a poor Chch suburb with cheap flats etc, and very multicultural.

What suburb is that, if you don't mind saying.

freitasm

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# 2199453 16-Mar-2019 12:24

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irongarment:

freitasm:

Coil: Heck not everyone is immediately aware of the situation or could even understand the scale of it. Especially here in NZ the last thing you’d think is if you’re wearing a hunting jumper and go pickup a kid from school you’ll get arrested for being a terrorist.

On a scale of dumb to stupid, his situational awareness was very low then.

Luckily he didn't choose to wear brown skin that day.

Last I looked, being stupid wasn't illegal. Nor was any particular kind of clothing.

It is still a stupid thing to do. Police we looking for active shooters in camo or dark clothes.

Your comment about brown skin is very out of line. If that was a factor police wouldn't be helping a lot of the people.

Your insensitivity was seen before. I think it's time for a week in the cooler.

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freitasm

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# 2199455 16-Mar-2019 12:26

dejadeadnz:

The arrest appears on its face perfectly reasonable. I'd however have serious concerns if his allegation that the police officer made the threat that if he dared look at the cop again, he'd shot, is true. Whatever the situation was, that's not in comport with the law. That allegation should be investigated.

Correct.

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Dial111

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# 2199456 16-Mar-2019 12:26

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freitasm: Do you really think that after a shooting spree with 49 dead in the city and knowing the schools are in lockdown, it is sensible idea to go out wearing camo clothes?

Or are you being sarcastic and forgot the smiley?

To just assume he should of known what had happened is just plain ignorant as there could of been multiple reasons as to why.

I had no idea what had happened, I turned up to my daughters school and my first thought was where are the parents, the school was a ghost town, as I’m standing there scratching my head a teacher pops her head out the door and tells me to quickly get inside as their has been a shooting, I nearly crapped my pants as I had no idea as to what when and where and was it a direct attack on the school or what. I was so tied up at work I had no time for anything less. Some people just didn’t know.

Fred99

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# 2199457 16-Mar-2019 12:27

dejadeadnz:

The arrest appears on its face perfectly reasonable. I'd however have serious concerns if his allegation that the police officer made the threat that if he dared look at the cop again, he'd shot, is true. Whatever the situation was, that's not in comport with the law. That allegation should be investigated.

FWIW - while this was going on there was a war zone elsewhere in Chch and there was a chopper in the air over and around the school, flying as low as 30 feet at times.

Extraordinary circumstances. Cops are human. Forgetaboutit.

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