Security move for judges amid online anger over shooter’s home detention sentence

The man at the centre of a downtown Auckland shooting rampage at a construction site on Thursday was Matu Tangi Matua Reid, aged 24. Photos / Hayden Woodward, Supplied

There have been security changes for the judiciary amid a surge in online anger towards the judge who sentenced the Auckland mass shooter to home detention.

Social media has seen an image of a bullet posted in the context of Judge Stephen Bonnor KC’s name and messages in which users are urged to track down his home address.

On Twitter, much of the commentary began with one user who posted a photograph of the judge which then went on to be viewed more than 25,000 times, according to monitoring from The Disinformation Project.

The judiciary will not expand on the risks to judges in the wake of a social media outburst over the home detention sentence handed down to 24-year-old Matu Tangi Matua Reid.

On Thursday, Reid went to a central Auckland building site with a pump-action shotgun where he killed two people and injured six others, including a police officer.

In a statement, Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu said he considered the health and safety of judges a “high priority” and a support programme was available whenever required.

“Although I am aware of the recent security concerns and the security measures that are in place, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to make any detailed comment on security matters for obvious reasons.”

The catalyst for much of the adverse commentary was traced by The Disinformation Project to a New Zealand Herald article which detailed the March court sentencing of Reid and his sentencing to five months of home detention for a domestic assault.

Auckland CBD gunman Matu Reid, who died in a shootout with police after killing two construction workers at the One Queen St site.

The Disinformation Project’s Kate Hannah said the Herald article provided solid context to Reid’s background and the court process.

She said it had the beneficial impact of leaving her informed about Reid’s background and comfortable to safely visit the central city for work mid-morning. “For most people, that was reassuring. By 10.30am, I knew I was completely safe doing that.”

But she said others had taken the details in the article in a different way and had targeted Bonnar for his decision-making.

The Disinformation Project analysis of Twitter found a slew of messages which blamed Judge Bonnar for the shooting and urged he be held responsible.

Hannah said it was unlikely the degree of abusive content on Twitter would have occurred before the takeover by Elon Musk and his downgrading of moderation.

She said it was also marked by how quickly it took off once the Herald’s story detailed Reid’s background. Prior to that, social media trends outside the ordinary were those claiming it wasn’t a genuine attack but a ploy to further crack down on firearms.

One factor Hannah suspected would have played a role was the influence of Twitter bots - computer-controlled accounts set to behave in a particular way - although concrete evidence of such an influence had yet to emerge. Such tools had been employed by nation states intent on sowing discord and division in communities and countries.

“Some of them are designed to promote decisive trending tweets.”

Hannah said the upswing of aggression was particularly concerning given the recently released Kantar Public research into misinformation for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The study found 8 per cent of people believed violence was an acceptable way to achieve change.

Hannah said: “It is ultimately about the health and safety and wellbeing of Judge Bonnar as an employee in the course of doing his job.”

She said it was also cause for concern that such aggression and pressure might lead to other judges second-guessing sentencing and other decisions.

The article that triggered the focus on Judge Bonnar detailed how Reid was sentenced to five months’ home detention after conceding guilt in a domestic violence incident.

Police lift the cordon around several downtown city blocks in Auckland after a shooting situation came to a close. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Reid had admitted charges of impeding breathing, injuring with intent to injure, wilful damage and male assaults female.

Judge Bonnar’s sentencing notes showed he considered Reid’s criminal record of a single assault conviction from 2020 for which he was on a community sentence at the time of the 2021 attack on his girlfriend.

Bonnar was also presented with details of Reid’s background of being exposed to domestic violence and physical abuse which led him to run from home at an early age.

Judge Bonnar said: “There is no excuse for what you did, but I can take into account those background features when I come to decide what is the appropriate sentence for you.”

“I do not want to send a young man like you, with a limited history, to prison. I think that could be counterproductive and actually set you down the wrong path.”

Court records showed a parole officer assessed Reid as having a low risk of reoffending and recommended a sentence of home detention.

Bonnar’s ruling started at three years in prison, discounted for Reid’s guilty plea and background factors down to 20 months, which was under the two-year trigger at which home detention became an alternative sentencing option.

The period came down to five months because of automatic reductions that cut short sentences in half and another five months for the time Reid had already been in prison.

David Fisher has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004.