Associate Press – March 15, 2020
New Zealand cancels memorial event for mosque shootings due to coronavirus
By Nick Perry
People in the New Zealand city of Christchurch honored the 51 (Muslim) worshipers who were killed in a mass shooting a year ago in small but poignant ways Sunday, after a planned national memorial event was canceled due to fears it might spread the new coronavirus.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Saturday the decision to cancel the memorial event planned for Horncastle Arena was pragmatic and precautionary.
New Zealand has had eight confirmed cases of COVID-19. All of those cases have been connected to people returning from abroad and so far there haven’t been signs of a local outbreak. Ardern has enacted strict border rules in an attempt to prevent the disease from taking hold in New Zealand.
Ardern was in Christchurch attending events to mark the anniversary of last year’s March 15 massacre, which she has described as one of New Zealand’s darkest days. On Friday she attended a special joint prayer with members of both mosques that were attacked.
Ardern said people had told her they had visited mosques for the first time in the wake of the attacks and had found themselves more openly discussing differences of faith.
“A year on, I believe New Zealand and its people have fundamentally changed. I can’t see how you could have an event like this and not,” Ardern said. “But the challenge for us will be ensuring that in our everyday actions — and in every opportunity where we see bullying, harassment, racism, discrimination — calling it out as a nation.”
Ardern drew attention to laws changed in response to the attacks. The deadliest types of semi-automatics are now banned, and in a nationwide buyback, gun owners turned in about 60,000 of their newly outlawed weapons for cash.
The man accused of the attacks, 29-year-old Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, is due to stand trial in June on charges of terrorism, murder, and attempted murder. If found guilty, he would face a sentence of life imprisonment.
https://thediplomat.com/2020/03/christchurch-marks-anniversary-of-mosque-shootings/
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