Wellington - The Christchurch owner of a "Nazi-themed"
insulation company on Friday pleaded guilty to sharing and
distributing the video of the terrorist attack on two mosques in the
same city.
Philip Arps admitted distributing the video that was filmed with a
helmet-mounted camera and live-streamed on Facebook of the massacre
which left 50 people dead, local media Stuff reported.
The day after the March 15 attack Arps sent the video to an unknown
person and asked for it to be modified with a "kill count" as people
were shot, and with cross-hairs as though the viewer was looking
through a rifle scope, the website reported.
New Zealand's chief censor made it a criminal offence to possess or
distribute the video, deeming it "objectionable."
Under its new classification, people found to be distributing the
video could face up to 14 years in prison, or a 10,000-NZ-dollar
(6,645-US-dollar) fine.
The 44-year-old is the owner of a company called Beneficial
Insulation that uses a sunwheel, or black sun, as its logo, which is
commonly used by Nazis.
The company states that it charges 14.88 NZ
dollars per metre for insulation, a reference to a white supremacist
slogan and to Adolf Hitler.
The company's full name is Beneficial Insulation Installs Guaranteed,
shortened to BIIg, which is also the name of a barracks at the
Auschwitz concentration camp.
Arps is one of 10 people charged for objectionable publication
offences in relation to the video of the Christchurch terror attack.
Arps has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on June 14.
Suspected white supremacist Brenton Tarrant has been charged with
murder in 50 cases.