The well-known terrorist group known as Isis had an ominous response to the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attack took place in two mosques in the town last Friday, and so far the police have only charged one man, Brenton Tarrant, for murder. Yet, it is still uncertain who else may have been involved in the attack.

Having been quiet for the past six months, the spokesperson of Isis broke this silence in a nearly 45-minute audio recording calling for a full on retaliation for Isis and its supporters to “take vengeance for their religion”. The terrible acts in New Zealand may have a domino effect that could be drastic for the world.

The spokesperson, known as Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, also said, “The scenes of death in the two mosques are enough to wake the sleep and incite the supporters of the caliphate who live there, to take vengeance for their religion and for sons of their Ummah, who are killed everywhere in the world.”

Although Isis has been losing much of their land and power in the Middle East, their reach has remained to be very far. Especially with the use of social media, radio, television, and media outlets such as the one al-Muhajir spoke on, Al Furqan, Isis is still getting their messages of hatred to supporters that exist around the world.

However, the suspected shooter of the mosques is also attempting to further his hateful message out to the public. Since being arrested, the shooter denied an attorney and vowed to represent himself in court.

At least 50 people were killed in the assault by the suspected shooter, Tarrant, who is a self-proclaimed white nationalist. The suspect also wrote a long manifesto explaining that he wanted to avenge the different terrorist attacks carried out by extremists in Europe, some of which Isis has been accredited to. The heinous acts are still causing trembles across the nation of New Zealand and the world, and this message from Isis is surely not a good sign either.

The New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, vowed to do everything in her power to make sure the suspected killer does not gain a platform to express more of his racist and ignorant views. Ardern spoke in a news conference, telling the media, “He (Tarrant) obviously had a range of reasons for committing this atrocious terrorist attack. Lifting his profile was one of them. And that’s something that we can absolutely deny him.”

In what seems to be a battle of two hateful ideologies, retaliation threats and attacks are stifling efforts to mourn those innocent people who were murdered last Friday. Only time will tell if such threats manifest into real action, but hopefully New Zealand and the rest of the world can stand together to make sure this does not happen.