A White House advisor told people they should read the alleged Christchurch shooter's manifesto "in its entirety", directly contradicting expert advice.
Kellyanne Conway made an appearance on the TV show Fox and Friends to defend US President Donald Trump after claims he was responsible for the rise of Islamophobia that contributed to the massacre.
"[The alleged shooter] put out a 70-page manifesto," she said on Monday.
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"And I guess everybody scoured it, searched for Donald Trump's name and there it is, one time. But people should read the entire [manifesto] in its entirety."
Conway's suggestion directly opposes the recommendation of many experts, who say no one should give the manifesto any attention.
"When you get down to the particulars there are a lot of statements in [the manifesto] mainly to try and get news coverage, to get people to say dumb things on TV, or to repeat memes or jokes that white supremacists and white nationalists use online to get people to search for them and try to bring attention to that cause," online extremism expert JM Berger told Vox.
"We need to make sure no one shares what is online," Waikato University International Law Professor Alexander Gillespie said in a statement.
"The risk of copycats is very high."
A 2015 study found "significant evidence" that mass shootings increase the likelihood of additional attacks in the two weeks after the initial attack.
Newshub.
