The Christchurch Terrorist was not a Lone Wolf

After the Christchurch shooter opened fire on worshippers during Friday prayers, he was described as a “lone wolf” whose world-view was fomented on internet forums. He was an introvert, a loner that was radicalised online and indulged his hatred for Islam in a violent rampage of death and destruction. This narrative is a convenient one, by suggesting he was an aberration, society can conveniently move on. Although calls to not mention the killer’s name come from a good place, it ignores a phenomenon taking root across the west, that of the rise of white nativism. Brenton Tarrant’s killing spree was the logical outcome of a warped world-view shared by many.

To understand this mindset one needs to read the assailants manifesto. A 74 page document that clearly lays out his analysis of the world around him. Far from being an emotional outburst by a murderous misfit, within the document there is a coherent and consistent evaluation of the state, as he sees it, of western society and its degradation. Surprisingly, Islam for Tarrant is not the main problem, its presence and growth is a symbol of what he calls the “steady colonisation of white European civilisation”. In his world, the problem is liberalism. He suggests that his killing spree was in part to “destroy the current nihilistic, hedonistic, individualistic insanity that has taken control of Western thought.” He…