New Zealand Government Report on 2019 Christchurch Attack Identifies Lapses and Needed Improvements

Today the New Zealand government released a nearly 800-page report providing its assessment of the deadly attacks that occurred in March last year at two mosques in Christchurch. Among its findings, the report observed that the perpetrator, Brenton Tarrant, was able to amass an arsenal of weapons without alerting authorities, whose focus was on potential threats from Islamist terrorism rather than right-wing extremism. As the report discusses, Tarrant expressed racist views beginning at a young age and in the years and months leading up to the attack made regular visits to extremist online forums and social media sites. He also amassed a cache of weapons. However, the report notes these and other red flags were missed by New Zealand authorities, which also criticized other counterterrorism efforts, “fragile” intelligence agencies, and ineffective leadership leading up to the attack. The government said it will take serious steps to address issues brought up in the report, with officials accepting all 44 recommendations. These include establishing a new national intelligence and security agency and appointing a new minister to better coordinate the agency. Read the report at the New Zealand Royal Commission of Inquiry website.