Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant laughed as a victim of his terror spree read their victim impact statement to the High Court this afternoon.
The moment was a rare display of emotion at his sentencing, despite hearing dozens of harrowing victim impact statements over the last two days, which outlined the horrifying impact of his attacks.
Tarrant, 29, is being sentenced on 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder, and one terror charge, following hateful massacres at Christchurch’s Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in March 2019.
Muslim convert Nathan Smith was telling the court how he had survived the shooting to find himself in the midst of horror, with fellow worshipers dying all around him, while they waited for ambulances.
“When you get a free minute, which you will have plenty of,” he said, before pausing momentarily due to a reaction from Tarrant.
The killer sniggered.
“Funny, aye, very funny, maybe you should try to read the Quran,” Mr Smith replied. “It’s beautiful. I have nothing else to say to you, but you will be judged.”
Earlier, Mr Smith had outlined his disgust at the murderer’s ideology.
“You killed in my name. I am a white Muslim and proud. All you have done is cause great shame for Europeans all around the world,” he said.
“You have changed my life forever and I will never forgive you. For us, life will go on with sadness in our hearts, but for those who died, they are the lucky one, they have gone to heaven. Because of you my faith is stronger and I want to learn more about Islam, so thank you.”
The sentencing is expected to continue until at least Thursday.
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