This is not the first time threats have been made against Ardern. In 2020, a man pleaded not guilty to a charge of sending threatening emails to Ardern between October 2019 and January 2020. Court documents seen by Stuff allege Michael Christopher Cruickshank, sent three emails on January 21, having already sent 89 emails between October 2019 and January 2020. He is set to go on trial in May. Also in 2020, an Australian man was jailed for making threats against Ardern, Muslims and mosques. Cormac Patrick Rothsey pleaded guilty in a Newcastle court to charges of posting extremist threats on social media in September 2019. Matthew Burns, from County Armagh, admitted sending Ardern a photo five days after the March 15 Christchurch mosque attacks of a gun with a silencer with the message: “You're next.”