FBI Tip-Off Helps NZ Police Prevent A 21-Year-Old’s Planned Mass Stabbing
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Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Reader discretion is advised.
A Hawke’s Bay man who had been sexually exploiting children online was planning a mass stabbing attack before being stopped by police following a tip-off from the FBI, The New Zealand Herald's senior investigative reporter, Michael Morrah, has reported.
Court documents revealed that the 21-year-old, who has name suppression, posed a “national security threat.” Police raided his home in September last year after receiving information from US authorities. Officers discovered a bayonet and a diary outlining his extremist manifesto.
According to a police summary obtained by the Herald, the man intended to target either a mosque or a shopping mall, with the aim of killing men in what he described as a suicide mission.
The Herald reported that just a month before receiving the “critical and imminent” warning from the FBI, police had already raided the man’s home over allegations he was involved in online child exploitation. During that search, investigators uncovered large amounts of illegal material on his electronic devices.
The Department of Internal Affairs’ (DIA) digital violent extremism team had monitored his online activity for two years. Investigators found that he had told a woman in the United States of his desire to commit a mass attack in order to gain notoriety.
The Herald said it was the raid over child exploitation material that prompted the man to speed up his plans and select a date for the attack. He disclosed this date to the US woman, who later provided information to FBI investigators.
Court documents stated the man intended to carry out the attack on the same day he was due to appear in court on other charges, using a bayonet or blade and wearing an airsoft tactical vest. Police raided his home again on September 28 after receiving the FBI’s information, finding two bladed weapons including the bayonet.
Investigators also uncovered a diary entry in which he described himself as a “soldier of Christ, his country, people and religion” and wrote that he had been radicalised at 19. A Quran and a PlayStation 5 linked to a YouTube channel featuring anti-Islamic content were also found.
The Herald reported that he pleaded guilty to charges of threatening to kill and cause grievous bodily harm. Forensic analysis of his devices revealed vast quantities of disturbing child exploitation content too graphic to publish.
The initial search of his home in August last year followed 81 alerts sent by the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which linked the man to suspected exploitation. Police later found thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse, communications with a 13-year-old girl on Snapchat, and evidence he had pressured her into sending explicit images.
Investigators found more than 2300 files promoting child abuse material in his publicly accessible MEGA.NZ account. They also discovered bestiality content and a video of necrophilia.
According to the Herald, the man used 24 email addresses to create multiple Discord and Instagram accounts, which he then used to distribute exploitation material. On his phone, police recovered 20 files categorised as violent extremist content, including five video clips from the 2019 Christchurch terror attack. One was altered with a Star of David symbol and dance music.
The defendant admitted to being part of an online exploitation network known as 764, a group that US Attorney General Pamela Bondi described as “one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises” when its ringleaders were arrested earlier this year, Herald reported.
Glenn Williams, manager of the DIA’s digital violent extremism team, told the Herald that groups like 764 operated within a nihilistic extremist network that used blackmail and coordinated the sharing of illegal material, including self-harm. He explained that such groups drew young people in by manufacturing a sense of belonging and power, often through edgy or violent content.
Williams said parents should pay close attention to their children’s online activity, look for red flags such as sudden mood changes or secrecy, and address concerns through open, calm discussions. He encouraged families to gather evidence like screenshots if they suspect harmful behaviour and to seek support from authorities.
Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Reader discretion is advised.
Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Reader discretion is advised.
A Hawke’s Bay man who had been sexually exploiting children online was planning a mass stabbing attack before being stopped by police following a tip-off from the FBI, The New Zealand Herald's senior investigative...
Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Reader discretion is advised.
A Hawke’s Bay man who had been sexually exploiting children online was planning a mass stabbing attack before being stopped by police following a tip-off from the FBI, The New Zealand Herald's senior investigative reporter, Michael Morrah, has reported.
Court documents revealed that the 21-year-old, who has name suppression, posed a “national security threat.” Police raided his home in September last year after receiving information from US authorities. Officers discovered a bayonet and a diary outlining his extremist manifesto.
According to a police summary obtained by the Herald, the man intended to target either a mosque or a shopping mall, with the aim of killing men in what he described as a suicide mission.
The Herald reported that just a month before receiving the “critical and imminent” warning from the FBI, police had already raided the man’s home over allegations he was involved in online child exploitation. During that search, investigators uncovered large amounts of illegal material on his electronic devices.
The Department of Internal Affairs’ (DIA) digital violent extremism team had monitored his online activity for two years. Investigators found that he had told a woman in the United States of his desire to commit a mass attack in order to gain notoriety.
The Herald said it was the raid over child exploitation material that prompted the man to speed up his plans and select a date for the attack. He disclosed this date to the US woman, who later provided information to FBI investigators.
Court documents stated the man intended to carry out the attack on the same day he was due to appear in court on other charges, using a bayonet or blade and wearing an airsoft tactical vest. Police raided his home again on September 28 after receiving the FBI’s information, finding two bladed weapons including the bayonet.
Investigators also uncovered a diary entry in which he described himself as a “soldier of Christ, his country, people and religion” and wrote that he had been radicalised at 19. A Quran and a PlayStation 5 linked to a YouTube channel featuring anti-Islamic content were also found.
The Herald reported that he pleaded guilty to charges of threatening to kill and cause grievous bodily harm. Forensic analysis of his devices revealed vast quantities of disturbing child exploitation content too graphic to publish.
The initial search of his home in August last year followed 81 alerts sent by the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which linked the man to suspected exploitation. Police later found thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse, communications with a 13-year-old girl on Snapchat, and evidence he had pressured her into sending explicit images.
Investigators found more than 2300 files promoting child abuse material in his publicly accessible MEGA.NZ account. They also discovered bestiality content and a video of necrophilia.
According to the Herald, the man used 24 email addresses to create multiple Discord and Instagram accounts, which he then used to distribute exploitation material. On his phone, police recovered 20 files categorised as violent extremist content, including five video clips from the 2019 Christchurch terror attack. One was altered with a Star of David symbol and dance music.
The defendant admitted to being part of an online exploitation network known as 764, a group that US Attorney General Pamela Bondi described as “one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises” when its ringleaders were arrested earlier this year, Herald reported.
Glenn Williams, manager of the DIA’s digital violent extremism team, told the Herald that groups like 764 operated within a nihilistic extremist network that used blackmail and coordinated the sharing of illegal material, including self-harm. He explained that such groups drew young people in by manufacturing a sense of belonging and power, often through edgy or violent content.
Williams said parents should pay close attention to their children’s online activity, look for red flags such as sudden mood changes or secrecy, and address concerns through open, calm discussions. He encouraged families to gather evidence like screenshots if they suspect harmful behaviour and to seek support from authorities.
Warning: This story contains disturbing details. Reader discretion is advised.
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