New book claims there were opportunities to detect terrorist ahead of March 15 attacks

Auckland University associate professor Chris Wilson and researcher Michal Dziwulski released He Told Us: How an Australian Committed Far-Right Terrorism in Christchurch New Zealand - on Monday.

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Warning signs were missed ahead of the terror attacks in Christchurch on 15 March 2019, a new book says.

Fifty-one people were killed when Brenton Tarrant opened fire at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton and shortly afterwards at the Linwood Islamic Centre. Many more were left injured and grieving.

The terrorist was arrested on the day and later plead guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder, and one of committing terrorism. He was jailed for life without the possibility of parole.

An attempt to appeal his conviction and sentence was dismissed.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry into the attacks released its report in December 2020, it found there was no plausible way government agencies could have known about the terrorists' plans ahead of time. A Coronial inquiry had been paused.

Auckland University associate professor Chris Wilson and researcher Michal Dziwulski conducted their own research, the result of which - He Told Us: How an Australian Committed Far-Right Terrorism in Christchurch New Zealand - was published on Monday.

They analysed his online activity, including on the messageboard 4chan, a site frequented by far-right extremists.

Wilson and Dziwulski said they compiled a dataset of 416 previously unknown 4chan posts, most made between 2014-2018.

They identified the posts by analysing the terrorist's extensive international travel itinerary during that time, corroborated his user name and comments with other online sites such as Lonely Planet travel forums, and Facbook interactions with the Australian white nationalist Lads Society.

They also considered his way of writing and common errors he made.

The author's said the newly revealed posts show his radicalisation over time and that he was a "pathetic fantasist, desperate for respect".

"As he drew closer to the atrocity his self identifying statements took a more confronting tone, combined with revealing his location they provided opportunities for his detection."

They said they maintained a high threshold for attributing posts on the anonymous forum to the terrorist and where there was any doubt they weren't included in their research.

By 2017, the terrorist's language had escalated showing his state of mind and growing inclination toward violence, Wilson and Dziwulski said.

The book was also critical of the narrow focus the Royal Commission was given.

"In our view, however, there are very strong indications that crucial information related to the attack has not been adequately assessed, analysed or discussed in the commission's report.

"The commission's treatment of the terrorist's social media use is, in our view, perhaps the most important failing."

Wilson and Dziwulski said the commission knew he had almost no in-person relationships and did everything online, but examined only a small portion of his online activity.

"All the warning signs that can indicate someone is going to commit public violence were there."

That included the purchase and modification of weapons, training with them in public, neo-Nazi linked user names in public forums including TradeMe, publicly stating his intention to commit violence and extremist views known to his family.

"There were many opportunities for detecting the terrorist."

Wilson and Dziwulski also suggested SIS staff were not equipped with the knowledge to identify suspicious behaviours.

They said while detecting and identifying the terrorist would have been difficult, the failure to do so was sure to intelligence agencies being under-resourced and focused elsewhere.

The SIS conducted an internal review of processes and decision making in the lead up to the Christchurch attacks.

In a public statement in 2021, Director-General Rebecca Kitteridge said the review made a number of recommendations that had already resulted in changes.

"The reviewer was given unrestricted access to our staff, systems and records. He conducted what was probably the most forensic search ever undertaken of NZSIS's information repositories to look for any reference whatsoever to the individual responsible for the attacks or anything that could have uncovered his plans. Nothing of national security relevance was found."

It was important for New Zealanders to know that NZSIS "sought to learn everything it could from this terrorist attack", she said.

When the Royal Commission's report was presented to Governor-General, chair Sir William Young said they completed 18 months of intense inquiry, engagement and analysis.

Evidence has included information from the community, reports and reviews, Cabinet papers, ministerial briefings, interview transcripts, meeting notes, email records, police statements, audio recordings, financial reconstructions, credit card transactions, medical assessments, social media reports, information used by international media outlets, maps, photographs, videos, media reports, physical evidence, international partner information and phone records.

"It has been an honour and privilege to undertake this Inquiry. Our hope is that this report not only provides answers, but also impetus for change and conversations about the kind of country we want to be. We are grateful to all the people who shared their experiences and wisdom with us, in meetings and submissions."

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