Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel said the suspect who carried out a terror attack on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday targeted New Zealand for its reputation for being a safe space.
“I think the reason that we have been targeted — and this was, as I understand it, a deliberate decision to target our city and our country — was because we are a safe city and a safe country,” Dalziel said at a news conference.
Dalziel also emphasized that the suspect is not from New Zealand.
“This sort of extremism is not something that we’ve seen here. But he is not from here,” she said. “He came here with hate in his heart and intention to kill in his mind. So he did not develop his hatred here. He came here to perform this act of terrorism.”