How European ideas motivated Christchurch killer
- The self-described ‘fascist’ may have picked up ideas during a trip to France in 2017
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Nicholas Vinocur on politico.com on March 15, 2019.
Even though the attack happened on the other side of the world, the man who carried it out declared that he started his planning after a trip to France — inspired by ideas that have filtered into right-wing discourse across the European Union.
The links were on display in a 73-page manifesto that the white supremacist, who called himself Brendon Tarrant on Twitter, posted to explain why he had killed 49 Muslim worshippers during Friday prayers in Christchurch, New Zealand.
While much of the document is devoted to scoring points with fellow “shitposters” via racist memes and in-jokes from the 8chan message board, it’s also full of references to European events, figures and ideas — starting with its title.
The term “The Great Replacement” is drawn from a thesis published in 2011 by French right-wing intellectual Renaud Camus. As explained by its author, an openly gay former academic, its central idea is simple: “You have a people and almost at once, in one generation, you have in its place one or several other peoples,” he told Le Nouvel Obs a few years ago.