White supremacist terror in the Antipodes reflects a global, digitally-mobilized phase of Islamophobia

Evidence

There was no war being waged against the uptick in white supremacist terror in New Zealand and across the world. The rising tide of populism sweeping the earth illustrated the ominous reality that white supremacists were leading this new front of Islamophobia and waging the racial crusades that enlisted the likes of Brenton Tarrant—a “regular white man” who executed fifty-one innocent people. … This was white supremacy wed to Islamophobia, a new phase of the War on Terror that past chapters of Australia’s and New Zealand’s colonial histories reveal is hardly novel. When asked if he felt any remorse for the murders, Tarrant said—boldly and proudly—“No, I wish I could have killed more invaders.” The self-proclaimed “ethno-nationalist” soldier dutifully executed the aims of presidential dictates trumpeted from the very top of political power, and carried out the xenophobic policies of racial populists near and far. Mobilized by digital platforms like 4chan and inspired by racial populists holding the highest offices of government, white supremacist terrorism rose violently and wreaked havoc on Jews and immigrants, Black people and Muslims. These platforms, along with mainstream social media outlets, enabled the peddling of “viral lies and falsehoods” about racial and religious minorities, which reached millions across national, hemispheric, and linguistic bounds, in turn accelerating the formation of a transnational white supremacist movement. — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 923