Reeves appeared for sentencing in the Hamilton District Court today on four charges; two of possession of objectionable material, one of distributing that material, and another of threatening to kill Youthline staff.
The court heard, Reeves rang Youthline, a national helpline for youth, on June 3, last year, leaving them “alarming” messages.
He added he was interested in replicating a mass shooting in New Zealand and that he had access to guns.
The next day police searched his Hamilton home and found his cellphone that was used to send the messages. Officers seized his computer, along with a replica handgun and bullets.
An analysis of his hard drive revealed recordings; one of the 2019 Christchurch Mosque attack and a copy of the Anarchist Cookbook, both of which are classified as objectionable.
A copy of the mosque shooter’s first video that he live-streamed was also found.
A further search of his cellphone showed that he had forwarded the mosque shooting video on May 19, last year with the message, “hei, it’s me echo ghost, with the trailer of Call of Duty NZ”.
When spoken to by police, Reeves said he “idolised those responsible for mass shootings and if he had the means, he would have acted on the comments”.
He was arrested and has been in custody since and deemed a person of “extreme risk”.
A pre-sentence report noted Reeves was a “young person who has a number of complex issues”.
Judge Clark said there was “reference about expressed homicidal thoughts and extreme ideology and the risk of harm you pose to yourself”.
The report recommended prison, as did prosecutor Danielle Young, who said Reeves’ behaviour could only be “categorised” as promoting and glorifying the Christchurch Mosque shooting”.
She said he was only discovered due to his “alarming” threats to Youthline.
Prison was the only suitable sentence, adding home detention was inappropriate as it did not offer a deterrence to others, she said.
Judge Clark said he appreciated that, but also noted that Reeves had spent nine months in custody already, which was equivalent to an 18-month jail term.
“He could be getting close to time served,” he told her.
Young added there were a number of concerning comments made by Reeves in the report, stating he’d been to a gay Pride event where he got involved in “violent behaviour”.
She said his concerning ideology and comments about the Christchurch shooter were “most troubling and call into question the defendant’s attitude going forward”.
However, Reeves’ lawyer, James Buckle, said while his client did have ideologies, they weren’t relevant to the mosque shooting.
“His interest seemed to be about the behaviour rather than the ideology,” he said.
“I accept that is a submission that can be cut both ways.”
Reeves had autism which meant he struggled to “articulate and understand emotional or social cues and other norms”.
“That combined with various other factors that led him down a rabbit hole made him more interested in this kind of behaviour.”
Compared with others who had been prosecuted, including white supremacist Philip Arps, Reeves only had two copies of it and only sent it to one other person, once.
Reeves was also only aged 19 at the time, had no previous convictions, had reconnected with his Muslim faith and was reading the Quran in prison which had given him peace.
“The outcome that is going to be most useful for Mr Reeves, and society in general, is going to be a rehabilitative sentence.”
Buckle suggested supervision combined with community detention.
Judge Clark said he had a “dysfunctional background” having a “rocky” relationship with his parents and being estranged from his mother. He did, however, have the support of his grandparents.
A psychiatrist’s report commented that Reeves followed the “incel ideology” and he described himself as the leader of a Pagan cult, which the judge noted, only had a small following.
“There’s concerns raised about your relationships with people, particularly your views on women ... homosexuality ... a chaotic lifestyle with online friends and a fascination with mass casualty events.”
“You had got into a position whereby you were waking up each day, going online, consuming alcohol, drugs, playing pornography video games and ... going down a rabbit hole.”
Judge Clark took a starting point of 24 months in prison before uplifting it by eight months for the threatening charge.
He then applied discounts for his guilty plea, youth, and mental health issues, arriving at 11 months.
Given he had already spent nine months in custody and was now aged 20, with no other criminal history, Judge Clark opted for a sentence of home detention.
The decision appeared to slightly shock Reeves, who sat up in his chair and widened his eyes slightly, as he appeared via audio-visual link.
Judge Clark sentenced him to six months of home detention with special release conditions for 12 months.
He also warned Reeves he would be judicially monitored.
“If there are any issues or concerns then we may see each other again, Mr Reeves,” Judge Clark told him.
