New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has garnered international praise for her empathetic but defiant response in the wake of the terror attacks on two mosques in the city of Christchurch that shocked and devastated the country.

Since the shootings killed 50 and injured dozens, Ardern has expressed the grief of the tiny island state that has prided itself on being an open and tolerant society. She has shown compassion and empathy for the survivors and the families of those killed while being vocal in her determination to deny the gunman what he had most desired – notoriety.

Ardern said she would do everything in her power to deny the gunman a platform to elevate his white supremacist views. “You will never hear me speak his name,” she said in parliament.

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