The horrific mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday shocked the world and many have taken social media to express their grief and sympathy for the victims.
Among them was prominent Indonesian Youtuber Atta Halilintar, who condemned the terrorist attack in a post to his Instagram account that left a bad taste in the mouths of many in Indonesians, no matter how good his intentions might have been.
“Such a barbaric Satan you Brenton [Tarrant]! I cried watching the video. My deepest condolences to the 49 people who were killed during the Friday prayers. There are proper procedures [when it comes to] shooting… I hope the victims [who died] in the mosques on Friday are regarded as shahid (martyrs in Islam). Pray for New Zeland (sic) God Bless Indonesia,” Atta wrote in the caption for his Instagram post on Friday, in which he is pictured posing while aiming a handgun.
Atta’s Instagram post sparked a major backlash among Indonesian netizens, with many condemning him for exploiting the tragedy for personal gain.
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Radio presenter and actor Gofar Hilman even urged people to dissociate with Atta — who has over 12 million subscribers on his Youtube channel — in light of the latter’s alleged exploitation of the shootings.
— Gofar Hilman (@pergijauh) March 17, 2019
“And I’m asking why I have to share oxygen with a species named Atta Halilintar. To all of you Youtubers, content creators, or whatever it is you call yourselves, if you still think that collaborating with Atta is a cool thing to do with your content, you’re not cool to me. We’re all saddened with the shootings in New Zealand, and please, let’s pray and give them help within our capacity. No more know-it-all and ignorant arguments. Enough is enough,” Gofar wrote yesterday.
Some have compared Atta to gaming Youtuber-turned-rapper Reza ‘Arap’ Oktovian, who, along with his EDM group Weird Genius, decided to postpone a release of their new single out of respect for the victims of the tragedy because the music video features depictions of firearms.
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— sumbing selow (@niko_junius) March 16, 2019
Atta deleted the post amid all the backlash but has not published any explanations or apology. He has also kept the related post below, seemingly to promote an upcoming video on his Youtube channel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvB8lpeBqiU/
“What are the procedures when handling a weapon? How about the permits and the shooting training [fist emoji] not killing people who are praying in mosques. I asked a shooting athlete and people who are experienced in this field #LovePeace #CintaDamai soon on Youtube about the rules of procedure for peaceful gun handling #PrayForNewZealand,” the caption reads.
The attack on two crowded mosques in Christchurch during Friday prayers left at least 49 people dead, New Zealand police said, on what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”.
Police say four people — three men and a woman — have been taken into custody, and that they had found and neutralized a number of IEDS (improvised explosive devices). One of the men has already been charged with murder.
Among the surviving victims, an Indonesian man and his 2-year-old son are reportedly recovering at a local hospital. Another known Indonesian victim of the mass shootings was 50-year-old aircraft engineer Lilik Abdul Hamid, who was sadly killed in the attack.
