Several people were stabbed in Auckland, New Zealand, by a Sri Lankan extremist who had been a recognized threat to the country. As per New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the attacker was a Sri Lankan citizen.
He was later shot and killed by police immediately after the incident started and clearly a follower of ISIS doctrine — that is, the version of Islam favored by the Islamic State organization.
The NZ Government Was Watching the Attacker Closely
Ardern emphasized that the asylum seeker had been under heavy supervision; this happened to perhaps appease critics upset that he was able to attack amidst being a clear threat. Moreover, the government surveillance team and specific tactics group were the ones who fatally shot him within 60 seconds of the attack’s start.
This will come as little consolation to the six victims who were not protected by the close surveillance; three of whom are severely injured, while one is severely hurt, as per the St John ambulance crew.
New Zealand Prime Minister says the terror attack in Auckland 'was carried out by an individual – not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity – but an individual person who was gripped by ideology that is not supported here by anyone or any community.' pic.twitter.com/5oGc0mYLfe
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 3, 2021
The liberal prime minister ended up going out of her way to emphasize that the attacker was an individual, not a belief, culture, or ethnic group; she claimed he was a single individual enslaved by a worldview not shared by anyone or any society in the former British colony — but apart from, assumedly, other Radical Islamists.
Ardern stated the specific reasons he was recognized by the intelligence institutions cannot be published at this time, due to court-issued secrecy orders. However, she is asking for advice on how the administration can boost transparency surrounding the state’s failure to prevent these assaults.
Read more on the Auckland terror attack here ⬇️https://t.co/R18qmRJiZN
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 3, 2021
She said the Sri Lankan had done nothing illegal that would have required him to be in detention; however, she did assure the press that if he committed a felony that would have required him to be in jail, he would’ve been there.
Under New Zealand law, Planning a Terror Attack is Not a Crime
According to The New Zealand Herald, officials attempted to charge the immigrant identified only as ‘S’ under the Terrorism Prevention Act last year. However, a High Court judge concluded that planning a terrorist attack was not a crime, in and of itself, under the regulations.
We all know what religion teaches this stuff. We aren’t stupid.
— Mohammed (@momoislam96) September 3, 2021
S’ was therefore charged with having Islamic Lies and propaganda; he was merely condemned to a year of monitoring at a mosque in West Auckland. Police also issued an official caution to ‘S’ for posting anti-Western and violent material on Facebook
This material included pictures and videos portraying war-related violent behavior, remarks advocating for extremism, and support for Islamic extremists implicated in the November 2015 Paris attacks and the Brussels bomb attacks in March 2016.
There were also various other threats the terrorist posted on his social media pages.
