New Zealand mass murderer noted white supremacist support for Emanuel gunman Dylann Roof and Donald Trump

A man accused of killing dozens of Muslims in New Zealand on Friday cited support for Emanuel gunman Dylann Roof and U.S. President Donald Trump for amplifying white extremism in a lengthy manifesto posted online before the killings.

In all, 49 people have been confirmed killed by shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. One gunman shared video of the killing spree, apparently taken from a head-mounted camera, on Facebook. Forty-one people were killed at one mosque, seven at another, and one died at a local hospital, according to NYT reports of police announcements. Dozens more, including children, were treated for injuries. Four people are being held in the crime, one has been charged. None have been identified.

Similar to Emanuel killer Dylann Roof, those suspected of carrying out the mosque shootings reportedly posted a long manifesto online detailing desires for white racial purity and anxiety over “white genocide.” The suspected New Zealand killer’s writings lay out worries over the “complete racial and cultural replacement of the European people.” The document has not been officially verified.

Roof displayed similar concerns over the extinction of the white race in his writings. “I believe that even if we made up only 30 percent of the population we could take it back completely,” Roof wrote, ruminating on the threat to white people in the South.

Roof, who grew up in the Midlands and targeted Emanuel as a historic church in Charleston, killed nine black churchgoers after sitting in on Bible study on June 17 2015. He is currently awaiting execution in a federal prison in Ohio.

According to the reported manifesto, both killers obsessed over the impact of immigration of people of non-European descent. The New Zealand killer wrote of “invaders” out to replace the white race. Roof discredited the notion of America as a melting pot and warning that the U.S. could meet the same fate as “what is happening in England and France.”

The New Zealand killer wrote that he respected and was influenced by Roof and other murderers intent on setting off ethnic wars.

The New Zealand shooter’s writings also noted that he supported Donald Trump “as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”

Trump has repeatedly given credence to the efforts of racist white nationalists which have taken root since he began running for president. Trump lamented that only neo-Nazis were being vilified during violent 2017 protests in Charlottesville, Va. over the removal of a Confederate monument. Renewed controversy over Confederate monuments sprung from Roof’s obsession with the Confederate flag in photos taken before his racist killings. During those protests, a man drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old paralegal Heather Heyer.

Around immigration, Trump has also echoed language used in the writings of the New Zealand shooter, citing the threats of “invaders” at the border and saying he wants fewer immigrants from “shithole countries,” preferring people from “places like Norway.”

The manifesto continues, on support for Trump: “As a policy maker and leader? Dear god no.”

Trump tweeted “warmest sympathy and best wishes” to the people of New Zealand on Friday.