He Told Us

How an Australian Committed Far-Right Terrorism in Christchurch, New Zealand

Chris Wilson, Michal Dziwulski

• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781923492714
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

The explosive, definitive book on how a far-right terrorist managed to escape detection and why we have failed to learn the lessons from Christchurch's shocking mosque murders.
'Essential reading if we are to learn the lessons of 15 March, not by looking at what was known but at what could have been known ahead of that fateful day.' - Lianne Dalziel, former Mayor of Christchurch
'As someone who lost my father Abdelfattah on 15 March, I read this with a particular weight ... a necessary and unflinching account that asks us to confront not only the events themselves, but also what might have been seen, named or acted on sooner.' - Sara Qasem
In March 2019, an Australian man shot dead 51 New Zealanders in two mosques in Christchurch. Until now, the true story of this atrocity has not been told.
He Told Us is the definitive account of that day — and the years of radicalisation that led to it. Revealing the terrorist's previously undiscovered online trail, this groundbreaking and meticulous investigation shows how he radicalised to violence over five years to become, disturbingly, the most influential far-right terrorist in history.
As he travelled the world, the terrorist's hatred deepened in anonymous online forums that espoused racist, misogynistic and violent beliefs. But He Told Us exposes how he was also nurtured by a growing Australian far-right and neo-Nazi movement that played a key role in his increasing militancy.
The book lays bare how warning signs were missed — the terrorist even telling us publicly online that he was planning an attack. It dismantles the Royal Commission of Inquiry's assurances that he planned his attack alone. And it tears down the misleading facade that surrounds the perpetrator and that continues to inspire mass killers around the world.
For the first time, He Told Us provides a comprehensive account of 15 March and tells the stories of some of the remarkable people whose lives were lost or changed forever that day. Essential and urgent, this is the story of how a terrorist openly told us what he was going to do — and how we failed to stop him.

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• ABOUT THE AUTHORS
• TITLE PAGE
• CONTENTS
• AUTHORS’ NOTE
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• 1. PRELUDE TO THE ATTACK
• 2. TARIQ
• 3. GRAFTON, NSW
• 4. ABDELFATTAH
• 5. WHITE NATIONALISM: A HISTORY OF FEAR
• 6. WHITE VIOLENCE
• 7. ATTA
• 8. NEVER TRUST A TERRORIST: HIS ONLINE LIFE
• 9. HOW WE FOUND THE TERRORIST ONLINE
• 10. A PATH TO VIOLENCE
• 11. AUSTRALIAN WHITE NATIONALISM
• 12. LINWOOD MOSQUE
• 13. NEW ZEALAND, 2017 TO 2019
• 14. TEMEL
• 15. ATROCITY
• 16. AFTERMATH
• 17. TERRORISM IN THE AGE OF THE SMARTPHONE
• 18. SENTENCING AND VICTIM STATEMENTS
• 19. ROYAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY
• 20. RE-EVALUATING THE EVIDENCE
• 21. ‘NO PLAUSIBLE WAY HE COULD HAVE BEEN DETECTED’
• 22. PROPAGANDA
• 23. COPYCATS AND CONTAGION
• 24. A GRANDIOSE AND FRAGILE MAN
• 25. EXPLANATIONS
• THE SHUHADA: THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES
• PICTURE SECTION
• GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS
• NOTES
• COPYRIGHT PAGE