Police say they receive constant reports of extremism with more than half related to white supremacists.
New Zealand Police director of national security Sean Hanson revealed in an exclusive interview with 1News that they typically deal with 10 extremist tip-offs a week, or around 40 a month.
The interview comes after a Hawke's Bay extremist became radicalised online and planned a mass public attack. The 22-year-old, who has interim name suppression, was sentenced this week to more than five years in prison.
Exclusive: The growing risk of extreme hate speech in NZ - Watch on TVNZ+
Hanson said: "So commonly, what we see now is we receive about 40 pieces of information that we treat as a lead per month, which require us to do some work. Many of them we discount relatively quickly.
"Some of them will require some investigative work and a very, very small number result in us treating it as a case of violent extremism.”
He added: “Unlike many of our close international partners, the most significant proportion - more than 50% of the cases that we deal with - involve what we categorise as identity-motivated violent extremism or white identity extremism or white supremacy. That forms more than 50% of our case load.”
He said the internet is responsible for much of the radicalising influence they see, consistent with what many other countries experience.
He urged the public to notify police early if they notice concerning behaviour online, saying it's easier to help early.
“There's no stereotypical person that can be susceptible to online radicalisation. What we ask people to look out for is when they see someone who's operating alone, spending lots of time online, they might start exhibiting some extremist or really, really racist beliefs.
"They might be more prevalent and start expressing those. And if that's the case, it's really important that people report that to us.”
Hanson said the amount of young people being radicalised in "very short periods of time" was a particular concern and the threat had become more "diverse and unpredictable".
“So, unlike what people might perceive, we don't have mass surveillance or a super computer scanning the internet. What we do have are the eyes and ears of more than 5 million New Zealanders who, if they see something, it's really, really important that they report it.” Hanson said.
Fears after Hawke's Bay case
The Hastings resident was charged and ultimately sentenced after police raided his property finding a detailed manifesto, along with weapons and hundreds of explicit extremist and child pornography files.
During the year-long court proceedings, the 22-year-old was granted bail to his home address in Hastings. But it was revealed at sentencing the offender broke his bail conditions by going online.
The Hawke's Bay Mosque is only a 15-minute drive from where the offender lived and its founder Sayeed Ahmed said the news has been a shock to the community.
“At this moment, we are very shocked and scared about this,” Ahmed said. “I am very, very upset and scared now for my community, for my family, for my relatives, friends, for everybody.”
Mosque leaders said they were disappointed the man was granted bail and they weren't directly notified of the potential danger within the community earlier.
Dr Juber Hafiji said: “As a Muslim community we understand the legalities behind this, we understand that law and order has to follow due process, but equally we would be concerned that an individual is still out there and could commit harm not only to our Muslim community but to somebody else."
He added: “Whoever in the community who wants to learn more about our religion and our faith, because it is a misunderstood religion and I think there's a lot of media about what our religion is all about, but actually come to us, engage with us and we'll show you what our religion is all about."
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including Ikea’s teething problem, new Epstein photos, and the worst days to drive this holiday season. (Source: 1News)
SHARE ME