The gunman responsible for the deaths of 51 people during a shooting in a Christchurch mosque in New Zealand came face to face with survivors and families of the victims in court in the third day of a four-day hearing.
Horrific mass shooting
Nearly 90 people spoke out during the hearing that addressed the heinous crime of 29-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant who attacked two separate mosques last year.
Tarrant chose to remain silent during his hearing that began on Thursday and has pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and one charge of terrorism.
The judge has sentenced the Australian to life in prison with no chance of parole, a punishment that has never been imposed in New Zealand's history.
According to BBC, survivors and families of the victims expressed their grief and resentment at the man that took their loved ones away from them; whose crimes were, in his eyes, being Muslims.
Sara Qasem spoke about her father, Abdelfattah Qasem, who was one of Tarrant's victims. She expressed her anguish as her plans with her father will now go unfulfilled. The victim's daughter then broke out into tears before telling Tarrant that they were not for him.
Ahad Nabi lost his elderly father, Haj Nabi during the shooting at the Al Noor mosque. Wearing a rugby league jersey of the New Zealand Warriors, he spoke to Tarrant without holding back his grudges.
The victim's son called the defendant trash of society, noting how Tarrant's father was a garbage man and that the shooter deserved to be buried inside a landfill.
One speaker who originated from England, Nathan Smith, had previously converted to a Muslim and recounted his experience of the attack. He remembers holding the youngest of the victims, a three-year-old boy, and wondered if he was still alive or not, he was not.
Smith, speaking to Tarrant, said the shooter took the life of the boy away at such a young age. He also noted that he was White, Muslim, and proud, as reported by ABC.
Desire to kill more
Tarrant conducted the attack with personalized triggers that made his guns more lethal and fired faster. He also used strobe lights to disorient his victims before shooting and killing them. After murdering 51 Muslims at the Al Noor mosque, he revealed he wished he killed more.
The punishment sentenced by the judge on the suspect is New Zealand's most severe punishment and marks the first time the sentence has been imposed in the country.
According to The New York Times, Justice Cameron Mander was the one who handed down Tarrant's punishment inside a courtroom who remained in total silence after three days of intense and heartbreaking testimonies.
All in all, 91 statements were delivered by survivors and family members of victims. Other survivors and witnesses filled seven separate courtrooms while watching the hearing on video to practice social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
When the judge finalized that Tarrant would not be given any chance of parole, many of the attendees smiled while shedding tears for their beloved.
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