The Christchurch Mosque killer shows all the hallmarks of a mercenary trained in urban warfare – which should raise questions about this alleged lone perpetrator. Mainstream journalists shrug this off and focus on the man being a white supremacist. They ignore any indications that his vita could be what the intelligence world calls a legend.

Some circumstantial evidence certainly points in the direction of rightwing extremism (this blogger did so three days ago as well).

But I am no longer so sure of that. New information has come out since saturday:

• Apparently the killings were carried out in the style of military specialists trained in “breach and clear tactics”. These skills are hard to acquire and have to be maintained by constant training. It is unclear, whether this would be possible in a run of the mill militia in NZ.
• The killer was born into the Australian working class. He is a former fitness trainer and traveled for many years and without any “financial stress” in crisis regions. His travels were allegedly financed by successful speculation in cryptocurrencies. This is possible in principle - but about as credible as a high networth individual, ascribing his/her wealth to casino profits.
• And finally – Tarrant seems to have been a “blank slate” in NZ: no friends, no colleagues, no “comrades”. A quasi “homestory” by the British tabloid The Sun reveals primarily, that Tarrant’s neighbors knew virtually nothing about the man.

This could be regarded as an indication that Tarrant’s vita is in fact a “fabricated legend”.