New Zealand shows America's mass shootings have global consequences

Nihad Awad, the National Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that the killing of at least 49 people in a mass shootings at two New Zealand mosques was "inspired by hate mongers in the United States. And in Europe." (March 15)
AP

Mass shootings are often called a uniquely American problem, but experts say violence here has global impact.

"There's no doubt that previous mass shooters in the United States have been imitated by shooters in the U.S. and outside it," said Adam Lankford, a criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama who studies mass shootings, noting "the influence of America culturally and cross-culturally."

The United States is ranked No. 1 in international influence, based on its economic and military power as well as its "cultural imprint," according to U.S. News & World Report.

"America’s culture and actions are contagious, as the U.S. draws a lot of attention," said Gary Slutkin, founder of Cure Violence, a nonprofit which treats gun violence like a disease.

Americans own 42% of about 650 million civilian firearms worldwide, according to the Small Arms Survey.(Photo: Karen Bleier, AFP/Getty Images)

Though the U.S. has long held a position of cultural dominance in the world, news of American mass shootings — and the motivations and ideologies behind them — spread faster and farther than ever. CNN International is seen in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. And if it weren't on TV, it would still be on Twitter.

"It's the viral nature of school shootings, the ubiquity of technology and the spread of ideology ... that have made mass shootings a global problem," said Colin Clarke, an adjunct political scientist at the RAND Corporation and a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, which does research on human security. "But while we pay a lot of attention to jihadist terrorism, we've been very slow and stubborn to realize that right-wing terrorism is very global, too."

Social media amplifies hate, said Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

“The atrocity in New Zealand shows us, once again, that we’re dealing with an international terrorist movement linked by a dangerous white supremacist ideology that’s metastasizing in the echo chambers of internet chat rooms and on social media networks," he said.

The mosque shooting suspect used a helmet-mounted camera to capture footage of the killings which he streamed live on Facebook and posted on YouTube and Twitter. It has since been removed.

An extremely small percentage of people commit mass shootings, but it is in these spaces online, Lankford said, where toxic ideas spread, and where many alienated men feel safe to worship the gunmen who terrorize the rest of us. Lankford says he's presenting a new study at the National Science Foundation next month showing that since 2010 there's been a more than 80-percent increase in highly lethal mass shooters that were influenced by a previous attacker.

A 2016 paper presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention blamed “media contagion” for an increase in mass shootings. The authors wrote: "We would argue identification with prior mass shooters made famous by extensive media coverage, including names, faces, writings, and detailed accounts of their lives and backgrounds, is a more powerful push toward violence than mental health status or even access to guns."

Indeed, the majority of gun deaths in the U.S. are due not to mass shootings but to suicide, which also has a contagion effect.

Mass shooting contagion is particularly heightened for 13 days after an event, according to a 2015 analysis by researchers at Arizona State University. Some shooters, however, spend much more time planning their attacks. The New Zealand shooter claims he planned for two years.

Evidence shows mass shootings often have strong copycat effects, particularly for a certain kind of offender, said Jonathan Metzl, a professor of sociology and psychiatry at Vanderbilt University and author of Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland.

"The thing that's being exported is not just mass shootings, it's a particular form of hate and hate crimes that blames immigrants and outsiders and people who look different," Metzl said. "It's impossible to see this crime and this mass murder just as a mass shooting. It took place in the context of the global spread of white nationalism."

People light candles next to flowers and tributes laid by the wall of the Botanic Gardens on March 17, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. 50 people are confirmed dead, with 36 injured still in hospital following shooting attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday, 15 March. 41 of the victims were killed at Al Noor mosque on Deans Avenue and seven died at Linwood mosque. Another victim died later in Christchurch hospital. A 28-year-old Australian-born man, Brenton Tarrant, appeared in Christchurch District Court on Saturday charged with murder. The attack is the worst mass shooting in New Zealand's history. Carl Court, Getty Images

Members of the public mourn at a flower memorial near the Al Noor Masjid on Deans Rd in Christchurch, New Zealand, 16 March 2019. A gunman killed 49 worshippers at the Al Noor Masjid and Linwood Masjid on March15. The 28-year-old Australian suspect, Brenton Tarrant, appeared in court on March 16 and was charged with murder. Mick Tsikas, EPA-EFE

Police search for evidence at a motel near the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019. A white supremacist gunman appeared in court Saturday charged with murder in the mosque assaults that killed dozens of people and led to the prime minister to call for a tightening of national gun laws. Mark Baker, AP

Ash Mohammed, right, talks to a police officer about his father and two brothers who are missing near the Masjid Al Noor mosque, site of one of the mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 16, 2019. Mark Baker, AP

The floral tributes grow on Deans Avenue near the Al Noor Mosque as locals pay tribute to those who were killed on March 16, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. At least 49 people are confirmed dead, with more than 40 people injured following attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday afternoon. 41 of the victims were killed at Al Noor mosque on Deans Avenue and seven died at Linwood mosque. Another victim died later in Christchurch hospital. Three people are in custody over the mass shootings. One man has been charged with murder. Fiona Goodall, Getty Images

A note is left on a police car windscreen on Deans Avenue near the Al Noor Mosque on March 16, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. At least 49 people are confirmed dead, with more than 40 people injured following attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday afternoon. Fiona Goodall, Getty Images

Police attempt to clear people from outside a mosque in central Christchurch, New Zealand. Multiple people were killed in mass shootings at two mosques full of people attending Friday prayers, as New Zealand police warned people to stay indoors as they tried to determine if more than one gunman was involved. Mark Baker, AP Images

A car with shattered windows is parked close to the Masjid al Noor mosque in Christchurch on March 15, 2019 after a gunman opened fire inside the mosque during afternoon prayers. FLYNN FOLEY, AFP/Getty Images

Hamzah Noor Yahaya, a survivor of the shootings at Al Noor mosque, stands in front of Christchurch Hospital at the end of a lockdown and waits to be picked up by his wife on March 15, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Kai Schwoerer, Getty Images

AOS (Armed Offenders Squad) officers push back members of the public following a shooting resulting in multiple fatalies and injuries at the Masjid Al Noor on Deans Avenue in Christchurch, New Zealand, 15 March 2019. Martin Hunter, EPA-EFE