Man Who Shared Mosque Shooting Video Gets 21 Months

A Christchurch businessman who shared a video of worshippers being slaughtered at a New Zealand mosque was sentenced on Tuesday to 21 months in prison. Philip Arps had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing the video, which was livestreamed on Facebook by a gunman on March 15 as he began killing 51 people at two mosques. Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O'Driscoll said that when questioned about the video, Arps had described it as "awesome" and had shown no empathy toward the victims. The judge said Arps had strong and unrepentant views about the Muslim community and had, in effect, committed a hate crime, the AP reports.

O'Driscoll said Arps had compared himself to Rudolf Hess, a Nazi leader under Adolf Hitler. "Your offending glorifies and encourages the mass murder carried out under the pretext of religious and racial hatred," the judge said. O'Driscoll said Arps had sent the video to 30 associates. The judge said Arps also asked somebody to insert crosshairs and include a kill count in order to create an Internet meme, although there was no evidence he'd shared the meme. Under New Zealand laws aimed at preventing the distribution of objectionable material, Arps faced up to 14 years imprisonment on each count. (Alleged mosque gunman Brendon Tarrant smirked but did not speak during a court hearing last week.)