A man murdered 51 people who had gathered to pray at Christchurch mosques in March 2019. Many victims are buried together at a cemetery in the city's east. Photo / Alan Gibson
A man murdered 51 people who had gathered to pray at Christchurch mosques in March 2019. Many victims are buried together at a cemetery in the city's east. Photo / Alan Gibson
The head of Christchurch's main mosque has spoken out against the person responsible for chalking "hate speech" on the footpath outside, saying "this is not our culture".
The message was written on the concrete outside the Al Noor Mosque on Deans Ave on Saturday.
The mosque was the scene of the beginning of the March 15 Christchurch terror attack.
A gunman opened fire at the mosque during Friday prayers, killing innocent men, women and children.
He then drove to the Linwood Mosque and continued shooting.
In total he murdered 51 people and wounded 40 others.
He was jailed for life without parole - the first sentence of its kind in New Zealand - by Justice Cameron Mander after an unprecedented four-day hearing in the High Court at Christchurch in August.
Saturday's message read: "Islam is right about women".
A man has posted video of himself outside the mosque near the scrawled words, claiming responsibility for it.
"Let's see what the public outcry is, should be fun," the alleged writer says.
In the video he points the message out to another member of the public who tries to rub it out with his foot.
"Oh look, he's going to wipe it off… good on you mate," the man in the video continues.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attends the unveiling of a plaque at the Al-Noor Mosque. Photo / NZME
"I don't have a problem with Muslims - by the way.
"What I do have a problem with is our freedom of speech being taken away."
Police are investigating the incident and the Herald has sought comment on whether they have identified the man in the video on Twitter.
The Herald has chosen not to publish his Twitter name or the footage.
Police are yet to respond to questions including whether CCTV cameras at the mosque captured the incident.
Al Noor Mosque imam Gamal Fouda also responded to the incident.
"The freedom of speech is one of the priorities for any community in New Zealand - however hate speech and hate crimes can't be tolerated by any New Zealander," he said.
"No one should be discriminated against because of his ethnicity, gender, or faith.
"This is not our culture in NZ."
Imam of the Al Noor mosque Gamal Fouda. Photo / NZME
Fouda said addressing the issue of institutional racism in New Zealand "is not the duty of the Muslim community only".
"As we are not the only community who has been systematically suffering from it," he said.
"Many people including even Maori and others suffered from it for decades."
