Historian Says Book about Christchurch Mosque Shooting Was Needed
South Canterbury author and historian Tom O’Connor’s feels his book, Our Darkest Day, about the Mosque shootings, was necessary as there needed to be a historical document of the event – but said he hopes he will never have to deal with a topic as dark again.
“A number of my publications have been about historical events in the country, if you don’t record it while people still have things fresh in their memory, the chances of forgetting or getting things wrong increases,” O’Connor said.
He has previously written about several historic events, including the loss of the Russian passenger liner Mikhail Lermontov in the Marlborough Sounds in 1986 and the fate of Irish convicts who escaped to New Zealand from Australia in the 1830s.
Our Darkest Day focuses on the events of March 15, 2019, where 51 people were killed in the shooting attack on two Christchurch mosques. It also provides context as to why and how such events do occur, as well as having contributions from experts in far-right extremism and the history of Islam in New Zealand.
“Memories fade faster than people think. I wasn’t going to let this one go by. Historians don’t just write about the pretty and the pleasant, they also write about the horrific and the horrible. A lot of people didn’t want me to write this book.
“I finished the book within a year, but because it was so raw, I sat on it.”
O’Connor said one of the key challenges was “finding the right people to talk to”.
“I overcame some challenges by relying on the work of frontline journalists. Without them, we lose so much, because that’s done when the event is hot,” O’Connor said.
“It’s done at the time which is absolutely valuable.”
As part of his research, O’Connor had access to the manifesto of the mosque shooter. It is illegal to own or distribute a copy of the manifesto, but O’Connor got a special dispensation from Chief Censor David Shanks.
“I got permission to use excerpts of the manifesto to explain some of the motivation behind the event.
“I don’t think it’s all his own writing. It’s probably written by three or four people, but it indicates the mind of a very disturbed young man. In most of the major religions, you have extremists like the shooter. I think he was a person who absolutely needed help a long time ago.”
The release of the book comes at a time when issues have been plaguing a proposed film about the event, They Are Us, on which production has been postponed due to a public outcry.
“It would be improper of me to comment on the film production, but for my approach, I made sure not to blindside anyone or dump information on people without warning. I was very careful to talk to representatives of the mosques before I proceeded with this,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor also avoided interviewing any of the survivors because they had “already undergone significant scrutiny”.
“They had been interviewed very well and at length by some excellent journalists. Those accounts tell us a lot,” he said.
O’Connor said “on the surface, New Zealand society changed in the wake of the mosque attacks, but racism, bigotry and intolerance will always be there”.
“We like to tell ourselves that we don’t have these things, but we obviously do.
“We are as vulnerable as we have ever been. We have absolutely no way of stopping a lone wolf terrorist from doing something terrible again because nothing gets written down, it’s all in someone’s head,” O'Connor said.
O’Connor said he was delighted by the willingness of several people, from former Police Commissioner Mike Bush to representatives of the New Zealand Muslim community, to collaborate on the book.
“Those people are enormously busy, and for them to give so much of their time was so welcome. With a lot of stuff I was well out of my depth without them,” O’Connor said.
“Once we had the material it was pretty easy to put together, but nothing I’ve written is as ugly as this.
“We will move on from those events, but we will never forget them. It’s because of people writing it down at the time that they stay with us.”
O’Connor said he was relieved the book was finished and would be released to the public on Saturday.
“What happens to it now is beyond my control.
“I hope that I never write a book like this, because for that to happen there needs to be another event like the mosque shootings.”
The book will be available to buy online via O’Connor’s website, tomoconnor.co.nz, from Saturday.
Source: stuff.co.nz
