LettersHow New Zealand mosque attack hero showed up white supremacists

The gunman, a 28-year-old Caucasian, is believed to be a white supremacist with an aversion to immigrants, as his hand gesture in court the day following the rampage appeared to confirm.

In politics, far-right statesmen ever so often spread the notion that immigrants are nothing but trouble, creating disharmony in the host nation and even sparking hatred among the native citizens.

While immigrants might experience a bit of culture shock and take some time to fit into the host nation, they are by no means a trouble or burden to it. On the contrary, they can bring in skills, contributing to and benefiting the host nation. The US and Canada are two good examples of nations that have benefited from good immigration laws.

Paradoxically, when the Christchurch gunman was about to storm into a second mosque to perpetrate a mass shooting, it was the unarmed Abdul Aziz, originally from Afghanistan and living in New Zealand for two years, who – instead of running to hide and save himself as most people would do in that perilous situation – grabbed a credit card machine to hurl at the attacker. He then picked up the spent gun the attacker had left behind and threw that at his car window. All this scared the perpetrator, who was about to get fresh weapons from his vehicle. Later, the fleeing gunman was chased down by police officers who blocked his car and captured him.