Queensland Senator Fraser Anning has claimed that it is New Zealand’s policy towards refugees that led to the deadly Christchurch massacre, which, he claims, highlighted the “growing fear over an increasing Muslim presence” in Australian and New Zealand communities.
“The real cause of the bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program, which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place”, Anning said in a statement for media on Friday.
Are you f*cking kidding me???? This guy is an Australian senator? SHAME on you @fraser_anning.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) 15 марта 2019 г.
I hope your fellow Australians respond to this disgusting statement with the same blind fury I am feeling. pic.twitter.com/W2XuX3fWkZ
At the same, he underscored that he is “utterly opposed to any form of violence within our community” and that he “totally” condemns “the actions of the gunman”.
Although evidence of Anning sharing that statement has been removed from his social media accounts, he then wrote on his Twitter page, “Does anyone still dispute the link between Muslim immigration and violence?”
Many Twitter users immediately condemned Anning’s remarks, with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison slamming them as “disgusting”.
This is not the response of someone who should be identifying as a human being.
— Ben Damon (@ben_damon) 15 марта 2019 г.
You are are a vomit bucket. You are hateful. The people who lost their lives today lost them by the hand of people who share your ideology. You have no right being in the senate.
— Gidget (@gidgetbandit) 15 марта 2019 г.
You're a monster
— ⚖️ TIᖴᖴᗩᑎY✊🏾ᑎ✊🏾KITᕼᑕᗩᖇT ☮️ (@tnkithcart) 15 марта 2019 г.
Fraser Anning should be expelled from the Senate forthwith. No ifs no buts. A disgrace to the country.
— Antfarmer (@antfarmer) 15 марта 2019 г.
Time for you to resign I think.
— Tash (@tashah9) 15 марта 2019 г.
I am nearly 40. I have never spat at anyone in my life nor did I ever imagine I would want to.
— Sikamikanico 👩🏻💻 (@Sikamikanico) 15 марта 2019 г.
You, sir, I would spit.
The fact that this bloke represents Queensland to begin with is a joke. The fact that he uses his platform to attack a community in its most harrowing hour is no joke — its disgusting. Never been this ashamed to be a QLDer.
— Paul Bleakley (@TheBleaks) 15 марта 2019 г.
How do you sleep at night?
— Hözil (@mesuthozil10) 15 марта 2019 г.
You’re a disgrace
— Ben Newton (@BenNewton_1) 15 марта 2019 г.
The remarks by Senator Fraser Anning blaming the murderous attacks by a violent, right-wing, extremist terrorist in New Zealand on immigration are disgusting. Those views have no place in Australia, let alone the Australian Parliament.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) 15 марта 2019 г.
Others did not mince words when using stern language regarding Anning and demanding that he should resign. Some described him as a “monster” and wondered “how he sleeps at night” after his comments on the Christchurch bloodbath.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the mass shooting as a terrorist attack and one of New Zealand's “darkest days”. Police confirmed that the suspect is in his late twenties and had been charged with murder and would appear in court on Saturday morning.
