Daily Archives: September 6, 2021

A man, inspired by ISIS ideology, who stabbed at least six people in a supermarket was a "violent extremist" known to the police, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said.

The man was shot and killed by police within 60 seconds of beginning his attack at a Countdown store in Auckland.

The man was a Sri Lankan national and had been living in New Zealand since 2011.

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"A violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders," Jacinda Ardern told a briefing on Friday.

The man cannot be named due to a suppression order currently in place.

He had been known to multiple agencies since 2016, with Ms Ardern confirming she had been personally aware of the individual - adding that she was gutted to hear what had happened.

She said: "This was someone who was known to our national security agencies and was of concern and was being monitored constantly. There are very few that fall into this category."

Police following the man thought he had gone into the New Lynn supermarket to do some shopping, but he pulled out what one witness described as a large knife and started stabbing people.

"There's someone here with a knife ... he's got a knife," a woman is heard saying in one video, posted online after the attack.

Another recorded the sound of ten shots being fired in rapid succession.

"We were doing absolutely everything possible to monitor him and indeed the fact that we were able to intervene so quickly, in roughly 60 seconds, shows just how closely we were watching him," Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said.

Described as a "lone wolf", Ms Ardern said the attacker was a "supporter of ISIS" and inspired by extremist ideology.

The man was not allowed to be kept in prison by law, she said.

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Of the six wounded people, three were in critical condition, one in serious condition and another in moderate condition, the St John Ambulance Service said in a statement to Reuters.

Ms Ardern said any backlash against the Muslim community "would be wrong", and said the attacker "is who is responsible, no one else".

"What happened today was despicable, it was hateful, it was wrong. It was carried out by an individual, not a faith," she added.

The security in the country will remain at a medium level.

New Zealand has been on alert for attacks since a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch on March 15, 2019. In May, four people were stabbed in a supermarket in Dunedin on New Zealand's South Island.

Auckland is on a strict lockdown as it battles an outbreak of the coronavirus. Most businesses are shut and people are generally only allowed to leave their homes to buy groceries, for medical needs, or to exercise.

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New Zealand terror attack: 'Violent extremist' carried out ...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took aim at a violent extremist who stabbed and wounded six people with a knife in a New Zealand supermarket on Friday, the countrys second attack in two-and-a-half years.

The New Zealand prime minister described the incident as a terrorist attack after a Sri Lankan national wounded civilians in Auckland.

She added that she had been absolutely gutted to hear about the incident.

Ardern continued: What happened today was despicable.

She was also keen to keep blame solely on the individual responsible, saying: It was hateful, it was wrong, it was carried out by an individual, not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity, but an individual person.

Ardern said the attacker, who was not identified, was obviously a supporter of ISIS ideology, in reference to the Islamic State terror group.

Fridays attacker had been in New Zealand for a decade. He had been under constant surveillance for the last five years due to concerns about his ideology, according to the prime minister.

He was on a terror watchlist and was known to multiple agencies.

Police were following the man and initially thought he was going into the supermarket to do some shopping.The individual allegedly picked up a knife from a supermarket display before running around like a lunatic, shopper Michelle Miller told the Stuff news outlet.

Police managed to shoot and kill the man 60 seconds once he initiated the attack.

Three out of the six people he wounded were in critical condition. One was in a serious condition while the remaining two were in moderate condition.

Pool via Getty ImagesJacinda Ardern speaks to the media at a press conference with the details of the Auckland supermarket terror attack.

New Zealand last experienced a terror attack in March 2019, when a white supremacist gunman killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques.

Ardern gained worldwide respect when she showed great compassion for the victims and their families.

At the time, The Washington Posts Ishaan Tharoor claimed that Ardern has become the face of her nations sorrow and grief and its resolve.

The prime minister has said it was not clear if the recent attack was an act of revenge for the mosque shootings.

Even so, the stabbings have now prompted widespread questions as to why the individual was able to roam around New Zealand freely if he was under surveillance.

Ardern said: If he had committed a criminal act that would have allowed him to be in prison, thats where he would have been.

Unfortunately he didnt ... instead he was being monitored constantly, constantly, and followed.

Gamal Fouda, imam of the Al Noor mosque and main target of the 2019 attacks, told Reuters: We are broken-hearted but we are not broken again ... we stand with the victims of the horrible incident.

Phil Walter via Getty ImagesJacinda Ardern consoling a grieving woman after the 2019 attacks.

Hitting back at criticism over the police response, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said officers had not been able to act more quickly because they needed to maintain a distance in order to be effective.

He said: The reality is, that when you are surveilling someone on a 24/7 basis, it is not possible to be immediately next to them at all times.

The staff intervened as quickly as they could and they prevented further injury in what was a terrifying situation.

Fiona Goodall via Getty ImagesPolice standing outside the supermarket where the stabbings occurred on Friday.

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'Not A Faith': Jacinda Ardern Blames 'Individual' For New ...

Days after a 32-year-old man stabbed and wounded seven people in a supermarket, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Saturday promised to tighten counter-terrorism laws this month. This assurance from the Prime Minister came after Ahmed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen, an extremist, was shot and killed by police after he attacked people in an Auckland supermarket on September 2, Thursday. While addressing a press conference in the national capital, Ardern promised to enact a law that would tighten the terrorist activities in the country. She assured the people of passing the law as soon as Parliament resume. "I am committing to pass the law as soon as possible. It would be pass no later than by the end of this month," stated Ardern. Further, she reiterated that the man involved in the mall stabbing incident came from Sri Lanka in 2011 on a student visa and was not known to have held any extreme views.

"The man was monitored constantly by at least 30 undercover agents after being freed from jail this year as he could not be kept in prison by law any longer," explained Ardern. The explanation from Ardern came after the Opposition parties alleged the Prime Minister could have saved the people from the brutal attack. He was first noticed by police in 2016 when he started posting support for terror attacks and violent extremism on Facebook. During the investigation, police found the man was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group and recovered several videos showing ISIS terrorists, said, Ardern.

In 2017, New Zealand police arrested him at Auckland Airport when he was heading for Syria. According to the police sources, he was presumably going to join the Islamic State insurgency. During the search operation, police found a hunting knife and some banned propaganda material in his bag. As the video did not contain any violent footage, he was released on bail. In 2018, he bought another knife, and police found two Islamic State videos. Since then, he was facing a three-year jail term after pleading guilty to various crimes and breaching bail. In May this year, a jury found him guilty on two counts of possessing offensive videos, which showed Islamic State group imagery.

However, the videos didnt show brutal murders like some Islamic State videos and werent classified as the worst illicit material. High Court Judge Sally Fitzgerald described the contents as religious chants sung in Arabic. According to the judge, the videos showed obtaining martyrdom on the battlefield by being killed for Gods cause. However, the judge rejected the defence claim that the man was trying to improve his Arabic. The court noted that he had the motivation and means to commit violent acts in the community and posed a high risk.

The court directed the authorities to monitor his activities closely. However, the judge decided to release the accused with several terms and conditions. He was kept at an Auckland mosque where a leader had confirmed his willingness to help. I am of the view that the risk of you reoffending in a similar way to the charges upon which you were convicted remains high, the judge concluded. Your rehabilitation is accordingly key.

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New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern vows to tighten counter ...

September 4 2021Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said seven people were injured in the terror attack at an Auckland supermarket yesterday and three people are still in a critical condition.

It was "disappointing and frustrating" the law prevented an Islamic State supporter from being detained, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement soon after legal suppressions were lifted last night.

Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, a 32-year-old born in Sri Lanka who came to New Zealand in October 2011 and was granted refugee status two years later, on Friday stabbed shoppers in a supermarket before being shot dead by police.

Ardern last night issued a statement that provided further information on steps Immigration New Zealand had taken over several years to try to have Samsudeen deported from the country.

Ardern said facets of the process had been "frustrating".

She said Government Ministers since 2018 had sought advice on NZ's ability to deport him.

Samsudeen arrived in New Zealand in October 201.

"He was 22 years old and travelling on a student visa," Ardern said.

"Shortly after arriving he made a claim for refugee status. Immigration New Zealand declined this claim in 2012, but he appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal and was successful. He was granted refugee status in December 2013.

"In 2016, the terrorist came to the attention of the police and the NZSIS."

Arden said during the course of investigations, Immigration New Zealand "were made aware of information that led them to believe the individual's refugee status was fraudulently obtained".

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"The process was started to cancel his refugee status, and with it, his right to stay in New Zealand.

"In February of 2019, Immigration New Zealand cancelled his refugee status. He was served with deportation liability notices. In April, he appealed against his deportation to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. He was still in prison at this time, and facing criminal charges. For a number of reasons, the deportation appeal could not proceed until after the conclusion of the criminal trial in May 2021."

Ardern said agencies also became concerned about "the risk this individual posed to the community".

"They also knew he may be released from prison, and that his appeal through the Tribunal, which was stopping his deportation, may take some time.

"Immigration New Zealand explored whether the Immigration Act might allow them to detain the individual while his deportation appeal was heard.

"It was incredibly disappointing and frustrating when legal advice came back to say this wasn't an option.

"A person can only be detained under the Immigration Act for the purpose of deportation. Immigration New Zealand was required to consider whether deportation was likely to proceed. That meant making an assessment of what the tribunal would likely find. Crown Law's advice to Immigration New Zealand was that the individual was likely to be considered a 'protected person' because of the status of the country from which he had travelled, and likely treatment on return. Protected people cannot be deported from New Zealand. After receiving this advice Immigration New Zealand determined they could not detain the individual while he waited for his appeal."

Soon after he was released from prison and the police monitoring and surveillance of Samsudeen begun.

"On [August 26] the Immigration and Protection Tribunal hearing was rescheduled. At the time of the terrorist attack, the offenders attempt to overturn the deportation decision was still ongoing," Ardern said.

"This has been a frustrating process."

Ardern also said she had met with officials and "expressed my concern that the law could allow someone to remain here who obtained their immigration status fraudulently and posed a threat to our national security".

National Party leader Judith Collins wants the Government to be able to strip citizenship or residency from those who have moved to New Zealand but then commit a violent act.

Yesterday, she also defended her decision in 2013 when, as Justice Minister, she removed a review of counter-terrorism laws from the Law Commission's work programme saying "there does not appear to be any substantial or urgent concerns arising from the operation of the [Terrorism Suppression] Act".

The gap in the law has existed across successive governments and has come under scrutiny in the wake of the terror attack in Auckland yesterday, when a terrorist attacked six people in a supermarket before being shot by police who were surveiling him.

Collins told RNZ yesterday she had texted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday night offering National's support to pass the bill into law under urgency.

Asked about her comments in 2013 about having no substantial or urgent concerns with New Zealand's counter terrorism legislation, she said it was "really unfair" to ask her about decisions from eight years ago.

"You are asking me to reach back without notes to go back and look at eight years ago at decisions made by the Cabinet," Collins told RNZ.

She said she wasn't going to second-guess Cabinet decisions - which would have been made in a particular context, and following consultation - from eight years ago.

The horrific events on Friday showed a need for an ability for a government to remove citizenship or residency from someone who had been granted it and later committed a violent crime, she said.

"It is a privilege, not a right. I am offering National's support to work constructively with the Government to make this change.

She said the Immigration Minister should be able to revoke a residency visa if the holder of the visa does something that would fail the "good character" threshold.

That would include being sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more.

Under the Immigration Act, residency or permanent residency visas are cancelled if the holder is deported.

Reasons for deportation include committing an offence that could lead to a jail term of at least three months within the first two years of residence, or one that could lead to a jail term of at least two years within the first five years of residence.

Currently the Minister of Internal Affairs can remove someone's citizenship if they have taken on the citizenship or nationality of another country and "acted in a matter contrary to the interests of New Zealand", or had acted fraudulently to gain citizenship in the first place.

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Auckland mall terrorist attack: PM Jacinda Ardern calls ...

New Zealand police have shot dead a man after he stabbed nearly six people in an Auckland supermarket. "Police have located the man and he has been shot. He has died at the scene," the police reported.

Locals described a scene of hysteria in the Countdown supermarket in the capital city's New Lynn suburb.

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While the authorities had earlier described this incident as a random attack and not terror-related, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has termed this as a terrorist attack.

"What happened today was despicable, it was hateful, it was wrong," she said.

Ardern reported that the incident began around 2:40 pm and the officers were able to shoot and kill the stabber within "roughly 60 seconds of the attack ".

The attacker is being described as an ISIS-inspired terrorist who arrived in New Zealand in 2011 and had roots from Sri Lanka.

"The attack at New Lynn Countdown was a terrorist attack carried out by a violent extremist," Ardern said. "He was supporter of IS-ideology. He was known to multiple agencies. I was personally aware of him."

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She also revealed that the attacker was being observed since 2016 but the authorities could not put him in prison due to legal obligations. As per the PM, his past activities had not reached to the level that he could be out behind the bars, but the officials were using every possible tool available to keep the country safe from him.

This incident took place in the afternoon with only few people present in the mall, due to the ongoing Covid lockdown in the city.

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Jacinda Ardern calls New Zealand stabbing 'terrorist attack ...