(AP) Survivors and family members continued to confront the white supremacist during the sentencing hearing in a New Zealand courtroom on Wednesday.
They spoke on the third day of a four-day sentencing hearing for Brenton Harrison Tarrant, who carried out the attacks during Friday prayers in March 2019, killing 51 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand.
The 29-year-old Australian has pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder, and terrorism.
The hearing has given a chance for some of the survivors and family members to confront him.
Many have asked the judge to impose the maximum possible sentence, life without the possibility of parole.
Che Ta Binti Mat Ludin told the court she hid in a storeroom of the women’s prayer room along with other women as the shooting started, initially thinking it was firecrackers.
She said she returned to Malaysia following the attack because she didn’t feel safe in Christchurch.
“I feel reluctant to socialize and do not feel like talking to people that much,” she said.
The gunman has shown little emotion during the sentencing.
He has watched the speakers, occasionally giving a small nod or smirking at jokes made at his expense.
At the current hearing, he hasn’t shown the brazenness he did at his first court appearance the day after the attacks, when he made a hand gesture sometimes adopted by white supremacists.
He is representing himself during the sentencing and can choose to speak once the survivors have spoken, although the judge will likely shut down any attempts he makes to grandstand.
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