A report (almost 800 pages long) is now available, detailing the inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain on 15 March 2019.
The report is in four volumes and can be downloaded (or separate parts of it) here:
https://christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/the-report/download-report/download-the-report/
The decision to spread awareness of the report was made due to its general benefit. We do not necessarily agree with every single opinion or recommendation contained in it.
Part 4 in Volume 2 is particularly interesting as it provides information about the terrorist, including his upbringing, travel, and preparation and planning for the terrorist attack. You can download it here:
https://christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/assets/Report-Volumes-and-Parts/Part-4-The-terrorist.pdf
Here’s an excerpt from volume 1, p. 104, under the section “The nationalist far right, the radical right and the extreme right-wing”:
“To the right of traditional right-wing conservative and libertarian opinions is a political space that has been called the far right. It is occupied by a range of ideologies, orientations and patterns of thinking. These include a strong form of nationalism that is not so much an ideology80 but rather an orientation that holds that western civilisation and its values are under threat from non-native (or alien) elements, whether people (particularly immigrants) or ideas (such as multiculturalism). It is this form of far right thinking that is primarily relevant for our inquiry. There are other far right patterns of thinking – including “deep-state” conspiracy theories (such as QAnon)81 or anti-feminist ideologies (such as “incel” ideology).82 While sexist attitudes often form part of extreme right-wing thinking and anti-feminist ideologies can act as a gateway to other extreme right-wing ideologies,83 these patterns of thinking are of less relevance for our purposes. Right-wing extremism experts Tore Bjørgo and Jacob Aasland Ravndal have provided a simple taxonomy of the nationalist far right, which for the purposes of this report, we adopt.”84
Short quotes from the report showing the terrorist was driven by racist and Islamophobic ideology with a calculated plan to target Muslims and mosques are shown below:
“The terrorist attack was driven by an extreme right-wing Islamophobic ideology. Its purpose was to promote chaos and disharmony in New Zealand.”
“He had already written words and phrases on the firearms and magazines reflecting his extreme right-wing, ethno-nationalist and Islamophobic ideology. There were more than 200 references to events in history, individuals or ideas, using short-hand terms that were intended to be recognisable and meaningful to those whose thinking aligned with that of the individual.”
“Gaming friend was aware of the individual’s political views and that he was in the habit of expressing racist and Islamophobic opinions.”
“We note that the 15 March 2019 terrorist attack is sometimes referred to on far right forums as “the mosque prank”.”
“He told us that he had undertaken internet research on masajid in Australia, Europe and New Zealand, which included obtaining layout details.”
“We read the document as being consistent with an intention to carry out a terrorist attack around that time. This would have coincided with Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca), which in 2019 was celebrated in early to mid-August. When we asked the individual about this, he confirmed that he had it in mind to launch an attack in Dunedin during this period because of the significance of the date in the Islamic calendar. This plan for a terrorist attack in August 2019 was abandoned for several reasons, one of which was that by at least early 2019 he was running out of money.”
Some interesting images from the report are shown below:
