White supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 29, live-streamed his rampage on Facebook as he killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand. His trial has begun and new details about the attacks were outlined.
Devastated relatives and surviving victims took the stand and faced the shooter.
Maysoon Salama, the mum of victim Ata Elayyan, told the High Court that losing her son was the worst pain, adding:
"I can't forgive you; you gave yourself the authority to take the souls of 51 people.
Our only crime in your eyes is that we are Muslims.
You killed your own humanity and I do not think the world will forgive you for your horrible crime. May you get the severest punishment for your evil act in this life, and hereafter.
You thought you can break us you failed miserably. Ata is gone but never forgotten. He will always be the light of our eyes. And we will live his legacy."
Survivor Taj Mohammad Kamran, who was shot three times at the Al Noor Mosque, told the court:
"I cry a lot now. The memory of the shooting is very difficult for me.
I cannot sleep properly now. I am angry very easily now. I do not go to mosques much as I am scared.
My body still hurts from the injuries. I was shot three times in the same leg. I cannot easily move around. I have too much pressure and too many problems now.
The doctors say they can't help me any more. I still have about 1,000 bits of shrapnel in my body that will be there. It can't be removed."
New Zealand prosecutors told a court that Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant had meticulously planned his March 15, 2019 attacks. He also intended to attack a third mosque and murder as many people as he could.
Brenton Tarrant expressed that his only regret was not being able to murder more people in the mosques.
* UPDATE *
The Australian white supremacist got the first terrorism conviction in New Zealand's history. He was sentenced to life without parole, which means he will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance to leave after serving only a portion of the sentence.
