News and Commentary

WATCH: NZ Students Perform Powerful Tribute To Victims Of Mosque Attack

   DailyWire.com

In a video posted by The Guardian Monday, a large group of New Zealand high schoolers perform the ceremonial haka dance as a way to honor their peers who were victims of the horrific attacks on two Christchurch mosques on Friday.

“Students from various schools paid tribute to two of their peers who died in the Christchurch shooting by performing a haka, a ceremonial Maori dance to mourn the victims and honour the dead,” The Guardian explained in the description of the video. “They were joined by scores of fellow students to form a deafening chorus. At least 50 people were killed in the attack, which was the worst mass killing in New Zealand’s history.”

A few students can be seen breaking into tears at the end of the ceremonial dance, with several students hugging each other after the powerful tribute. WATCH:

On Friday, a xenophobic and racist extremist went on a shooting rampage targeting two mosques in Christchurch in which he killed 50 people and wounded another 50 before being captured by police. Before his murderous campaign, the shooter posted a 74-page manifesto online espousing various often contradictory views in which he declared war on the “invaders” of the West, including Muslims, and said he wanted to spark a civil war in the United States by using guns in his rampage. He also livestreamed his heinous deed using a GoPro. (His name is here withheld due to The Daily Wire’s policies on mass shooters.)

“This is one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday. “Clearly what has happened here is an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”

Arden has since announced her support for significant gun control measures in New Zealand along the lines of those imposed in Australia. As The Daily Wire reported, Ardern announced following a cabinet meeting Monday that new gun policies were going to be implemented in the coming days. “Within 10 days of this horrific act of terrorism we will have announced reforms which will, I believe, make our community safer,” she said. The horrific attack has “exposed a range of weaknesses in New Zealand’s gun laws,” she said.

Ardern also issued a statement reassuring law-abiding gun owners in the country that they will not be targeted by the new laws. “I know that this might, for a short period, create a small degree of uncertainty amongst some gun owners, including those who possess guns for legitimate reasons, and I particularly acknowledge those in our rural communities,” she said. “I want to assure you that the work that we are doing is not directed at you. In fact, I strongly believe that the vast majority of gun owners in New Zealand will agree with the sentiment that change needs to occur.”

Related: WATCH: Hero Who Used Shotgun To Chase Off NZ Mosque Shooter Describes Confrontation

Editor’s Note: Recent studies suggest that “media coverage of mass shootings can have a significant impact on the psyches of potential mass shooters — that such potential mass shooters have a cognitive craving for attention, which they know they will receive for committing atrocities.” For this reason, The Daily Wire no longer publishes names and images of mass shooters as it has become increasingly clear in recent years that “the value of public knowledge regarding specific names and photographs of mass shooters is significantly outweighed by the possibility of encouraging more mass shootings.”

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  WATCH: NZ Students Perform Powerful Tribute To Victims Of Mosque Attack