2011 Norway attacks
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Norway attacks were two sequential terrorist
attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on 22 July 2011.
The first was a car bomb
explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet
, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 15:25:22 (CEST
).
The car bomb was placed outside the office of Prime Minister
Jens Stoltenberg
and other government buildings. The explosion killed eight people and wounded several others, with more than 10 people critically injured.
The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya
in Tyrifjorden
, Buskerud
. The camp was organized by AUF
, the youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party. A gunman dressed in an authentic looking police uniform and showing false identification gained access to the island and subsequently opened fire at the participants, killing 69 attendees, including personal friends of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and the stepbrother of Norway's crown princess Mette-Marit
.
The Norwegian Police Service
arrested Anders Behring Breivik
, a 32-year-old Norwegian
right-wing
extremist and charged him with both attacks.
The European Union
, NATO and several countries around the world expressed their support
for Norway and condemned the attacks.
in late August and early September 2010. He chose the Czech Republic
because the country has some of the most relaxed laws regarding guns
and drugs in Europe. Following his Internet inquiry, Breivik noted that "Prague is known for maybe being the most important transit site point for illicit drugs and weapons in Europe". Despite the fact that Prague has one of the lowest crime rates among European capitals, Breivik observed that he was not looking forward to his trip to the Central European capital, because he has "heard that there are very brutal and cynical criminals".
He hollowed out the rear seats of his Hyundai Atos
in order to have enough space for the firearms he hoped to buy. After two days, he got a prospectus for a mineral extraction business printed, which was supposed to give him an alibi in case someone suspected him of preparing a terrorist attack. He wanted to buy an AK-47
-type rifle (this sort of firearm is however not very common in the country, unlike the Vz. 58), a Glock pistol
, hand-grenades and a rocket-propelled grenade, stating that getting the latter two would be a "bonus".
Breivik had paid for prostitutes in Prague
and had several fake police badges printed to wear with a police uniform, which he had acquired illegally on the Internet, and which he later wore during the attack. Contrary to his expectations, he was completely unable to get any firearms in the Czech Republic, commenting that it was the "first major setback in [his] operation". In the end, he concluded that Prague was "far from a ideal city to buy guns" and nothing like "what the BBC reported", and that he had felt "safer in Prague than in Oslo".
already for seven years", and that obtaining the guns legally should therefore not be a problem.
Upon returning to Norway, Breivik obtained a legal permit for a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic carbine, ostensibly for the purpose of hunting deer. He bought it in late 2010 for €1,400 ($2000). In his manifesto he said he was going to use soft-point rifle bullets, injected with 99% pure liquid nicotine
, to make them even more lethal. Forensics tests to determine whether nicotine was used are underway.
Getting a permit for the pistol proved more difficult, as he had to demonstrate regular attendance at a sport shooting club. He also bought 10 30-round magazines from a US supplier. From November 2010 to January 2011 he went through 15 training sessions at the Oslo Pistol Club, and by mid-January his application to purchase a Glock
pistol
was approved.
Breivik claimed in his manifesto that he bought 300 g of sodium nitrite
from a Polish shop for in December 2010, in order to make a bomb fuse. In March 2011, he legally bought 100 kg of chemicals from a small Internet-based Wrocław company. The Polish ABW
interviewed the company owner on 24 July 2011. Breivik's Polish purchases initially led to him being put on the watch list of the Norwegian intelligence, which did not act because they did not believe it was relevant.
He had also planned a last religious service (in Frogner Church
) before the attack.
On 18 May 2009 Breivik registered a Sole proprietorship
called Breivik Geofarm in order to buy fertilizer without arousing suspicion. Upon registration, Breivik stated that the company would grow vegetables, melons and tubers. The place of business was set to Åmot
in Hedmark
. On 4 May 2011 Breivik purchased six tons of fertilizer (13,227 pounds) through Geofarm at Felleskjøpet
. The amount is an average purchase of fertilizer in Norway. Three tons consisting of ammonium nitrate and three tons consisting of calcium ammonium nitrate
. According to some of the neighbors, all the fertilizer was stored in his barn. This was the fertilizer used to make the Oslo bomb. After conducting a reconstruction of the bomb with equivalent amount of fertilizer on the farm in Åmot, police and bomb experts concluded that the bomb had been 950 kilograms.. About the same size as the one used in the 2002 Bali bombings. Afterwards there was significant debate in Norway how an amateur could acquire so substantial amounts of fertilizer and in addition manufacture and place such a lethal weapon in the middle of Regjeringskvartalet
all by himself. The conclusion by Felleskjøpet
was that there is no legislation to keep agricultural businesses from purchasing as much fertilizer as they please, and that Geofarm was completely legitimate and there was nothing suspicious about Breivik's purchase. This was confirmed by the director of the Norwegian Police Security Service, Janne Kristiansen
, who stated "not even STASI
could have prevented this attack"
that could be used for the production of explosives.
The company should have listed at least two Swedish employees at the social networking site Facebook, but it is uncertain whether these people actually existed.
In April 2011 he reported moving from Oslo to Vålstua farm in the municipality of Åmot
, located about 9 kilometres south of the community center Rena, on the east side of Glomma. Agricultural company was driven from the farm, and gave access to ingredients for explosives.
On 4 May 2011 Behring Breivik bought six tons of fertilizer, alledgedly for farming purposes, and kept it in a garage on the farm in Åmot. In 82 days stayed Behring Breivik on the farm, where he ran the practical preparations for a terrorist attack, and among them produced more fertilizer bombs: one test bomb that was exploded in the natural terrain and one car bomb of 950 kg, which was blown up in downtown Oslo on 22 July 2011 where it killed eight people. He had at least between 1000 and 1500 kg additional material that was left on the farm and could be used for construction of a third bomb.
as a training simulation while using World of Warcraft
as a cover
for his extended period of isolation.
)
a bomb detonated in Regjeringskvartalet
, downtown Oslo. The bomb was placed in a Volkswagen Crafter
and parked in front of the H block, housing the Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Justice and the Police, and several other governmental buildings, such as the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (R4), Ministry of Finance (G block), Ministry of Education and Research (Y block) and the Supreme Court of Norway
(behind the G block). Breivik was registered by surveillance cameras as parking the car at 15:13:43, then standing by it for 1 minute and 54 seconds, whereafter he was walking away, visibly holding a gun in his hand. Security guards registered the car as of unknown origin and started searching for the driver. Breivik was, however, not observed.
The explosion started fires in the H block and R4, and the shock wave blew out the windows on all floors as well as in the VG house
and other buildings on the other side of the square. The streets in the area were filled with glass and debris following the explosion. A cloud of white smoke was reported as a fire continued to burn at the Department of Oil and Energy. The blast was heard at least 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) away.
At 15:26 the police received the first message about the explosion, and at 15:28 the first police patrol reported that it had arrived at the scene. At the same time, news agency NTB
was told that the Prime Minister was unhurt and safe.
Following the explosion, police cleared the area and searched for any additional explosive devices. Through media outlets, police urged citizens to evacuate central Oslo.
Police later announced that the bomb was composed of a mixture of fertiliser and fuel oil (ANFO
), similar to that used in the Oklahoma City bombing
.
on the No.37 line, which stops outside the Ministry of Finance, was commandeered to evacuate the walking wounded
.
An e-mail communication with the BBC
from a traveller indicated that police were conducting searches in cars on the road to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
, which remained open.
The Gardermoen Line between Lillestrøm
and Oslo Airport was shut down after a suspicious package was found close to the tracks. The same happened at the offices of TV 2
which were evacuated after a suspicious package was found outside the building.
Approximately one and a half hours after the Oslo explosion, a man wearing a police uniform, confirmed to be Anders Behring Breivik, boarded the ferry MS Thorbjørn
at Utøykaia
in Tyrifjorden
, a lake some 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) northwest of Oslo, to the island of Utøya
, the location of the Norwegian Labour Party's annual AUF
youth summer camp, which is organised there every summer and which was attended by approximately 600 teenagers.
When Breivik arrived on the island, he presented himself as a police officer who had come over for a routine check following the bombing event in Oslo. He signalled and asked people to gather around him before pulling weapons and ammunition from a bag and indiscriminately firing his weapons, killing and wounding numerous people. He first shot people on the island and later started shooting at people who were trying to escape by swimming across the lake. Survivors on the island described a scene of terror. In one example, 21-year-old survivor Dana Barzingi described how several victims wounded by Breivik pretended to be dead to survive; but he later came back and shot them again. He did relent in his executions on some occasions: First, when an 11-year-old boy who had just lost his father during the shooting, stood up against him and said he was too young to die; and later, when a 22-year-old male begged for his life.
Some witnesses on the island were reported to have hidden in the undergrowth, and in lavatories, communicating by text message to avoid giving their positions away to the gunman. The mass shooting reportedly lasted for around an hour and a half, ending when a police special task force arrived and the gunman surrendered, despite having ammunition left, at 18:35. It is also reported that the shooter used hollow-point or frangible bullets (incorrectly but popularly called dum-dums) which increase tissue damage.
The island's manager for over 20 years, Monica Bøsei, 45, known as “Mother Utøya”, was one of the victims. Her husband and one of her two daughters were also present, but escaped with their lives. The youngest victim, Sharidyn Svebakk-Boehn, just turned 14 years old, and wrote a blog describing the days before her murder.
Local residents in a flotilla of little motorboats and fishing dinghies sailed out to rescue the survivors who were pulled out shivering and bleeding from the water and picked up from hiding places in the bushes and behind rocks around the island's shoreline. Some survived by pretending to be dead. Several campers, especially those with the experience to know the island well, swam to the island's rocky west side and hid in the caves which are only accessible from the water. Others were able to hide away on the secluded Kjærlighetsstien ("love path"). 47 of the campers sought refuge in Skolestua ("the School House") together with personnel from the Norwegian People's Aid. Although Breivik shot two bullets through the door, he did not get through the locked door, and the people inside this building survived.
Two ethnic Chechen
teenagers Movsar Dzhamayev, 17, and Rustam Daudov, 16, who were at the island described later that they were reminded of the war in their native Chechnya
. "I have seen people being shot before in my country when I was small and had flashbacks," Dzhamayev said. But after speaking to his father by cell phone, he pulled himself together. "My dad said, 'Attack the perpetrator and do it properly,'" he said. With a third unidentified friend, the teens armed themselves with stones and returned to the scene only to witness Breivik killing another teenager. "We stood three meters from him and wanted to beat him, but then he shot one of our friends in the head. So we just threw the stones and ran for our lives," Daudov said.
The teenagers said that they had decided that it was too difficult to stop the gunman. They discovered a cave-like opening in a rock where they managed to hide 23 children from Breivik. Dzhamayev, who kept guard outside, also dragged three youngsters from the lake who were close to drowning.
The police have declined to say what guns he used for the attacks or how he acquired them.
Former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland
, whom Breivik said he hated and, in a pun on the epithet Landsmoderen - "mother of the nation", referred to in his writings as landsmorderen - "murderer of the nation", had been on the island earlier in the day to give a speech to the camp. After the attack Breivik stated that he originally wanted to target her specifically; but because of delays related to the ongoing renovation of Oslo Central railway station, she was already gone when the shooting started.
The first person to arrive on the scene was Marcel Gleffe, a German
resident of Ski
vacationing at a holiday camp on the mainland. Recognizing gunshots, he piloted his boat to the island and began throwing lifejackets to young people in the water, rescuing as many as he could in four or five trips, after which the police asked him to stop. The Daily Telegraph
credited him with saving up to 30 lives. Another forty were saved by Hege Dalen and Toril Hansen, a married lesbian couple holidaying in the area. The couple made a total of four trips to the island to rescue campers, and at one point came under fire. Several dozen more were rescued by Kasper Ilaug, who made three trips to the island. Ilaug, a local resident, received a telephone call that "something terrible" was happening on Utoya and requesting help. He initially thought the call was a prank, but acted anyway. Altogether, some 150 who swam away from the island were pulled out of the fjord by campers on the opposite shore.
At 17:27 the local police district learned about the shooting, and two minutes later the police in Oslo were informed. By 17:38, the Norwegian central counter-terrorist unit Beredskapstroppen
was dispatched to Utøya from their headquarters in Oslo. However special forces in Oslo did not have a helicopter available that could take them straight to the island. The only helicopter available to the Oslo-based unit was a military one parked 60 km south of the capital at Moss Airport
in Rygge
, and thus the special unit had to reach the location by cars.
They reached the ferry crossing at 18:09, but had to wait a few minutes for a boat to take them across. They reached Utøya at 18:25. When confronted by the heavily armed police on the island, the gunman initially hesitated for a few seconds. But when an officer yelled "surrender or be shot" he decided to lay down his weapons.
Anders Breivik called 112 (emergency telephone number) at least twice to surrender, at 18:01 and 18:26, and continued killing people in between. The police says Breivik hung up both times; they tried to call him back but did not succeed.
When the police arrived at the scene, they were met by survivors begging the officers to throw away their weapons, as they were afraid that the men in uniforms would again open fire on them.
, less than 30 minutes after the first shot was fired, they could not find a suitable boat to reach the island. They were then ordered to observe and report.
AUFs own ferry, MS Thorbjørn
was used by the terrorist to go to Utøya. Shortly after the first shot was fired, nine people were leaving the island with the ferry, among them the AUF-leader Eskil Pedersen
. They feared there might be more terrorists in the area and navigated the ferry 2.7 km to the north. Hence the ferry was not available to the police when they arrived at Utøykaia, the normal ferry landing on the mainland.
The police therefore had to use their own RIB-boat. The day of the event, this boat was located in Hønefoss, and had to be transported to the lake and launched before it could be used. When the anti-terror police boarded the RIB-boat it took in some water and after a few hundred meters, the engine stopped, probably due to water in the gasoline. Two minutes later they took over a civilian boat that was sent to assist them. The episode is captured on video. A minute or two after the video ends, another and faster civilian boat arrived to help out. Four police officers from the anti-terror police boarded the boat. Not to waste any more time the civilian couple, was driving the police to Utøya; hence they was participating in an amphibious assault
from an small open boat.
Some have criticized the police for not using a helicopter, for not immediately getting into small boats, and for endangering the couple who drove the civilian boat.
branch of AUF
. The youth was reportedly stripped naked and locked up in a jail cell, located only meters away from the cell housing the self-confessed killer. The victim, who as a child had witnessed mass murders in Chechnya
, was suspected of being an accomplice because his haircut was different from that shown on his identity document
, and because he did not react to the carnage with the same tears and hysteria as most of the other survivors. He was kept in custody for seventeen hours. Barrister Harald Stabell
criticized the police for failing to contact the youth's family, who feared he was killed, and for interrogating the victim without a lawyer present.
said the hospital staff were treating head, chest and abdominal wounds.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was at his official residence near the Royal Palace, preparing the speech he was scheduled to give at Utøya the next day. Norway’s finance minister, Sigbjørn Johnsen
, was on holiday in Denmark at the time.
Fewer people than usual were in the area because the bombing took place during July, the usual vacation month for Norwegians, and since it was Friday afternoon, most government employees had gone home for the weekend.
) on 23 July, NRK1
and TV2
, the two primary Norwegian television networks, broadcast a live press conference from the Sentrum politistasjon in Oslo where Norway's National Police Commissioner Øystein Mæland
stated the number of fatalities at Utøya to have reached "at least 80" with the count expected to increase.
On 25 July, a police spokesperson revealed that the death toll of the victims on Utøya had been revised downwards to 68 after the casualties had been counted on their return to the mainland. They added that the number of people missing was still high and that the number of casualties could be as high as 86. On 29 July police announced that one of the severely wounded victims from Utøya had died in a hospital, bringing the death toll from the island massacre to 69 (and 77 total, including 8 from the bombing in Oslo).
On 26 July, the Norwegian police began releasing the names and dates of birth of the victims on their website. By 29 July, the names of all 77 victims (eight from the bomb attack, 69 from Utøya) had been published, the last, a shooting victim, having been found on the 28th. The median age of the deceased was 18 years and the average age 21.8 years.
Trond Berntsen, an off-duty, unarmed police officer and step-brother of Norway's crown princess Mette-Marit
, was among the dead.
entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence bearing the name "Andrew Berwick", the file was e-mailed to 1,003 addresses about 90 minutes before the bomb blast in Oslo. Analysts described him as having Islamophobic views and a hatred of Islam, and as someone who considered himself as a knight dedicated to stemming the tide of Muslim immigration into Europe.
The introductory chapter of the manifesto defining "Cultural Marxism
" is a copy of Political Correctness: A Short History of an Ideology by the Free Congress Foundation
. Major parts of the compendium are attributed to the pseudonymous Norwegian blogger Fjordman
. The text also copies sections of the Unabomber manifesto, without giving credit, while exchanging the words "leftists" for "cultural Marxists" and "black people" for "muslims". The New York Times
described American influences in the writings, noting that the compendium mentions the anti-Islamist American Robert Spencer 64 times and cites Spencer's works at great length. The work of Bat Ye'or
is cited dozens of times. Neoconservative blogger Pamela Geller
, Neo-pagan writer Koenraad Elst
and Daniel Pipes
are also mentioned as sources of inspiration. The manifesto further contains quotes from Middle-eastern expert Bernard Lewis
, Edmund Burke
, Mahatma Gandhi
, Thomas Jefferson
and George Orwell
, as well as from Jeremy Clarkson
's Sunday Times column and Melanie Phillips
' Daily Mail
column. The publication speaks in admiration of Ayaan Hirsi Ali
, Bruce Bawer
, Srđa Trifković
, and Henryk M. Broder. The compendium advocates a restoration of patriarchy
, which it claims would save European culture.
The compendium contains his militant
far-right ideology and xenophobic
worldview, which espouses an array of political concepts; including support for varying degrees of cultural conservatism
, right-wing populism
, ultranationalism, Islamophobia
, "far-right Zionism
", and Serbian paramilitarism. It regards Islam
and "cultural Marxism
" as the enemy and argues for the annihilation of "Eurabia
" and multiculturalism
, to preserve a Christian Europe
. He further urged Europeans to restore the historic crusades
against Islam as in the Middle Ages
. A video Breivik released on YouTube 6 hours before the attack, has been described as promoting violence towards Muslims and Marxists who reside in Europe.
Among other things, in the manifesto he identified the Beneš Decrees
, which facilitated the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
after the Second World War, as an example for committing that act on European Muslims
. In his manifesto he also urges the Hindus to drive Muslims out of India. He demands the gradual deportation of all Muslims from Europe from 2011 to 2083 through repatriation
. He blames feminism for allowing the erosion of the fabric of European society.
Breivik's writings mention the English Defense League, claiming that he had contact with senior members of the EDL, and that a Norwegian version of the group, was 'in the process of gaining strength'. He wrote that the EDL were 'naïve fools' because in his words the EDL 'harshly condemns any and all revolutionary conservative movements that employ terror as a tool'. EDL leader Tommy Robinson denounced Breivik and the attack on 26 July 2011 and denied any links with the Norwegian.
After being apprehended, Breivik was characterized by police officials as being a right-wing
extremist
and an Islamophobe
. Breivik is described by the newspaper Verdens Gang
as considering himself a conservative nationalist. According to The Australian
, Breivik was highly critical of Muslim immigration into Christian societies, is pro-Israel and an admirer of the US Tea Party movement
. Deputy police chief Roger Andresen
initially told reporters that "We have no more information than... what has been found on [his] own websites, which is that it goes towards the right and that it is, so to speak, Christian fundamentalist." Subsequently, others have disputed Andresen's characterization of Breivik as a Christian fundamentalist. Furthermore, Breivik stated that "myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God
." According to the International Business Times, in his manifesto, he "did not see himself as religious", but he did identify as a cultural Christian
and wrote about the differences between cultural and religious Christians, but stressed that both were Christians, and shared the same identity and goals. He has written many posts on the far-right website document.no
. He attended meetings of "Documents venner" (Friends of Document), affiliated with the Document.no website. He is a former member of the Progress Party
(FrP) and its youth wing FpU. According to the current FpU leader Ove Vanebo
, Breivik was active early in the 2000s, but he left the party as his viewpoints became more extreme.
In his online YouTube video, he expressed admiration of past European leaders who waged war against Islam and Muslims, naming Charles Martel
, Richard Lionheart, El Cid
, Vlad III the Impaler
, Jacques de Molay
, Tsar Nicholas
and John III Sobieski
. A recently created social media
website bearing Breivik's name and picture but of unknown authorship refers to him as an admirer of Winston Churchill
and Max Manus
, and also of Dutch politician Geert Wilders
, whose political party, the Party for Freedom
, he describes as "the only true party of conservatives".
elected to act on behalf of Breivik's defense, confirming to the Dagbladet
newspaper that Breivik had requested him personally. Lippestad said "I thought carefully about it. Everyone is entitled to a lawyer, even in a case like this, and I decided to accept."
sent his condolences to the victims and their families, and urged unity.
At a press conference on the morning after the attacks, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Justice Minister Knut Storberget
addressed the country. Stoltenberg called the attack a "national tragedy" and the worst atrocity in Norway since World War II
. Stoltenberg further vowed that the attack would not hurt Norwegian democracy, and said the proper answer to the violence was "more democracy, more openness, but not naivety". In his speech at the memorial service on 24 July 2011, he opined
what would be a proper reaction: "No one has said it better than the AUF girl who was interviewed by CNN: 'If one man can show so much hate, think how much love we could show, standing together.'"
The leader of the Workers' Youth League
, Eskil Pedersen
, vowed to "return to Utøya" and urged Norway to continue its tradition of openness and tolerance.
Leaders of Norwegian political parties expressed grief and sent condolences in public statements.
On 1 August 2011, Norway's parliament, nominally in recess for the summer, reconvened for an extraordinary session to honour the victims of the attack. In a departure from parliamentary procedure, both King Harald V and Crown Prince Haakon were present. The president of Norway's Parliament, Dag Terje Andersen
read out loud the names of all 77 victims. The session was open to the public, but due to limited seating, priority was given to relatives of the deceased.
The seven political parties in the parliament agreed to postpone the electoral campaign for local elections
, held in September, until mid-August. School debates were cancelled, though the school elections were not.
Initially, Magnus Ranstorp
and other terror experts suspected that foreigners were behind the attacks. Non-ethnic Norwegians, especially Muslim Norwegians, were subjected to spitting and other forms of harassment, and violence.
, was expelled from the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria
after equating the massacre with the death of millions of fetuses through abortion.
On 25 July 2011, at noon (CEST), each of the Nordic countries
held a minute of silence
to dignify the victims of the two attacks. Norway's minute of silence stretched to five minutes. In Oslo, a city of approximately 600,000 inhabitants, an estimated 200,000 people attended a "flower march".
The Norwegian media reported criticism against Fox News and its commentator Glenn Beck
for their coverage of the attacks. Beck's comparison of the AUF
to the Hitler Youth led Frank Aarebrot
, a Norwegian professor with political sympathies to the Norwegian Labour Party
, to call Beck a "fascist" and "swine".
. The police feared that Breivik would use the hearing as an opportunity to communicate with possible accomplices. Because of this, the arraignment was held completely closed to the media and all other spectators. Instead, judge
Kim Heger held a press conference shortly afterwards where he read the court's decision. The practice of completely closed court hearings is extremely rare in the Norwegian justice system.
It was long debated which criminal charges to use in this unique situation. Many police attorneys wanted high treason
or crimes against humanity. The prosecution ended up indicting Breivik on terrorism
charges. Breivik admitted to being the gunman at Utøya and the perpetrator behind the Oslo bomb, also admitting all the other actual events. Nonetheless he pleaded not guilty, stating "I do not recognise this justice system". District Attorney
Christian Hatlo asked that Breivik be detained for eight weeks without mail or visitation. The judge ruled in favor of the prosecution, stating "the accused is an imminent danger to society and must be confined for the safety of himself and others. It is highly probable that he is guilty of the alleged crimes and imprisonment is necessary to prevent destruction of evidence". In accordance with the prosecution's wishes, Breivik was sentenced to eight weeks detention without mail or visitation, four of which in complete isolation. To be renewed no later than 19 September 2011. He was immediately transferred to Ila Landsfengsel, a maximum security prison
.
Attorney general
Tor-Aksel Busch stated that final charges and indictment would not be ready until at least the end of the year 2011 and that hopefully the trial could start sometime in 2012
On 13 August 2011 Breivik was taken to Utøya by police to re-create his actions on the day of the massacre. Wearing a bulletproof vest and a leash, Breivik was seen to mimic a shooting action. Neither the media nor the public was alerted to the operation. The police explained that the surprise walk-through was necessary because Breivik will be charged and tried for all 77 murders individually. The police deemed it less offensive to the survivors to do it now rather than during the trial. Despite the many police boats and helicopters, none of the civilians who had come to lay down flowers on the shore this day perceived what was happening just a few hundred metres across the lake from them for a total of eight hours. On the evening of 14 August the police held a press conference about the reconstruction. It was reported that Breivik was not unmoved by his return to Utøya, but that he showed no remorse. Inspector Pål Fredrik Hjort Kraby described Breivik's behavior and indifference on the island as "unreal", as he had over the course of eight hours willingly showed the police exactly how he had carried out all of the 69 murders.
The preliminary date for the trial is set for 10 April, 2012
, Call of Duty series
, Sniper Ghost Warrior, Counter-Strike Source and World of Warcraft
.
In the days following the attacks, Norway's main political parties noted a significant increase in interest for membership from young people. Both the Norwegian Young Conservatives
and the Progress Party's Youth, as well as the Workers' Youth League
(AUF) had signed up a significant number of new members after a few days. The mother parties also reported a strong and unusual boom in new members, with the Conservative Party and the Progress Party
having signed up almost one thousand new members each by early August, while the Labour Party reported over six thousand new members at the end of the month.
Far-right groups such as Stop the Islamisation of Norway
(SIAN) and the Norwegian Defence League (NDL), as well as the Democrats party, had reportedly witnessed a boom in their memberships and interest by mid-August, with the Democrats party having signed up around one hundred new members, and the NDL around three hundred. According to professor Tore Bjørgo at the Norwegian Police University College
in Oslo, the increased support for these far-right groups indicates that within the far right, there is a milieu that sympathizes with violent rhetoric.
In the September local elections
almost two months after the attacks, strong gains were made by the Conservative Party (up 9% to 28%), and to a lesser extent the Labour Party (up 2% to 32%). On the other hand, significant setbacks were witnessed by the Progress Party (down 6% to 11%) and the Socialist Left Party
(down 2% to 4%).
Images
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on 22 July 2011.
The first was a car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet
Regjeringskvartalet
Regjeringskvartalet is a collection of buildings in the centre of Norwegian capital city Oslo housing several of the offices of the Government of Norway...
, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 15:25:22 (CEST
Central European Summer Time
Central European Summer Time is one of the names of the Daylight saving time offset using the UTC offset of UTC+02:00, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in most European countries. During the winter, Central European Time is used...
).
The car bomb was placed outside the office of Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Norway
The Prime Minister of Norway is the political leader of Norway and the Head of His Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Stortinget , to their political party, and ultimately the...
Jens Stoltenberg
Jens Stoltenberg
is a Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and the current Prime Minister of Norway. Having assumed office on 17 October 2005, Stoltenberg previously served as Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001....
and other government buildings. The explosion killed eight people and wounded several others, with more than 10 people critically injured.
The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya
Utøya
Utøya is a small island in the Tyrifjorden lake in Hole municipality, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. The island is , situated off the shore, by the E16 road, driving distance north-west of Oslo city centre.-Overview:...
in Tyrifjorden
Tyrifjorden
Tyrifjorden is Norway's fifth largest lake with an area of 137 km2. It has a volume of 13 km3, is 295 meters deep at its deepest, and lies 63 meters above sea level...
, Buskerud
Buskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
. The camp was organized by AUF
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
, the youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party. A gunman dressed in an authentic looking police uniform and showing false identification gained access to the island and subsequently opened fire at the participants, killing 69 attendees, including personal friends of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and the stepbrother of Norway's crown princess Mette-Marit
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway , is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.-Background and education:...
.
The Norwegian Police Service
Norwegian Police Service
The Norwegian Police Service is the official police force in Norway which are run by the Minister of Justice and Police. The department consists of 27 regional areas and seven national special forces. The department has about 11,000 employees....
arrested Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian terrorist, paranoid schizophrenic and the confessed perpetrator of the Norway attacks on 22 July 2011: the bombing of government buildings in Oslo that resulted in eight deaths, and the mass shooting at a camp of the Workers' Youth League of the Labour Party...
, a 32-year-old Norwegian
right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
extremist and charged him with both attacks.
The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, NATO and several countries around the world expressed their support
International reactions to the 2011 Norway attacks
Over 60 states, several supranational bodies, many individuals and other entities expressed their condolences and moral support in connection with the 2011 Norway attacks...
for Norway and condemned the attacks.
Preparation for the attacks
Anders Behring Breivik had participated for years in debates in Internet forums and spoke against Islam and immigration. He was preparing for the attacks from at least as early as 2009, though he concealed his violent intentions.Failed attempt to buy weapons in Prague
Breivik spent six days in PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in late August and early September 2010. He chose the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
because the country has some of the most relaxed laws regarding guns
Gun politics in the Czech republic
Gun politics in the Czech Republic incorporates the political and regulatory aspects of firearms usage in the country. Policy in the Czech Republic is in many respects less restrictive than elsewhere in Europe . The most recent Gun Act was passed in 2001, replacing the previous law and tightening...
and drugs in Europe. Following his Internet inquiry, Breivik noted that "Prague is known for maybe being the most important transit site point for illicit drugs and weapons in Europe". Despite the fact that Prague has one of the lowest crime rates among European capitals, Breivik observed that he was not looking forward to his trip to the Central European capital, because he has "heard that there are very brutal and cynical criminals".
He hollowed out the rear seats of his Hyundai Atos
Hyundai Atos
The Hyundai Atos is a city car produced by Hyundai. The original Atos was introduced in 1997. In 1999, it was joined by the less controversially styled Atos Prime. It uses the G4HC Epsilon straight-4 engine. The second generation Atos Prime was launched in 2004...
in order to have enough space for the firearms he hoped to buy. After two days, he got a prospectus for a mineral extraction business printed, which was supposed to give him an alibi in case someone suspected him of preparing a terrorist attack. He wanted to buy an AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
-type rifle (this sort of firearm is however not very common in the country, unlike the Vz. 58), a Glock pistol
Glock pistol
The Glock pistol, sometimes referred to by the manufacturer as Glock "Safe Action" Pistol, is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Glock Ges.m.b.H., located in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria. The company's founder, engineer Gaston Glock, had no experience with firearm design or...
, hand-grenades and a rocket-propelled grenade, stating that getting the latter two would be a "bonus".
Breivik had paid for prostitutes in Prague
Prostitution in the Czech Republic
Prostitution in the Czech Republic is not illegal, but organized prostitution is prohibited. The enforcement of these laws, however, can be lax...
and had several fake police badges printed to wear with a police uniform, which he had acquired illegally on the Internet, and which he later wore during the attack. Contrary to his expectations, he was completely unable to get any firearms in the Czech Republic, commenting that it was the "first major setback in [his] operation". In the end, he concluded that Prague was "far from a ideal city to buy guns" and nothing like "what the BBC reported", and that he had felt "safer in Prague than in Oslo".
Arming in Norway and through the Internet
Originally, Breivik intended to try to obtain weapons in Germany or Serbia if his mission in Prague failed. The Czech disappointment, however, led him to procure his weapons through legal channels. He decided to obtain a semi-automatic rifle and a Glock pistol legally in Norway, noting that he had a "clean criminal record, hunting license, and a pump action shotgun Benelli NovaBenelli Nova
The Benelli Nova is a standard pump action shotgun, popular among hunters and defense enthusiasts. Its most innovative and distinguishing feature is a one-piece receiver and buttstock, made of steel-reinforced polymer.- Hunting :...
already for seven years", and that obtaining the guns legally should therefore not be a problem.
Upon returning to Norway, Breivik obtained a legal permit for a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic carbine, ostensibly for the purpose of hunting deer. He bought it in late 2010 for €1,400 ($2000). In his manifesto he said he was going to use soft-point rifle bullets, injected with 99% pure liquid nicotine
Nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves...
, to make them even more lethal. Forensics tests to determine whether nicotine was used are underway.
Getting a permit for the pistol proved more difficult, as he had to demonstrate regular attendance at a sport shooting club. He also bought 10 30-round magazines from a US supplier. From November 2010 to January 2011 he went through 15 training sessions at the Oslo Pistol Club, and by mid-January his application to purchase a Glock
Glock
Glock Ges.m.b.H. is a weapons manufacturer headquartered in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria, named after its founder, Gaston Glock...
pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
was approved.
Breivik claimed in his manifesto that he bought 300 g of sodium nitrite
Sodium nitrite
Sodium nitrite is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula NaNO2. It is a white to slight yellowish crystalline powder that is very soluble in water and is hygroscopic...
from a Polish shop for in December 2010, in order to make a bomb fuse. In March 2011, he legally bought 100 kg of chemicals from a small Internet-based Wrocław company. The Polish ABW
Agencja Bezpieczenstwa Wewnetrznego
The Agencja Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego is the Polish government counterintelligence state agency tasked with the collecting of domestic intelligence etc. Foreign operations counterpart is Agencja Wywiadu.-See also:...
interviewed the company owner on 24 July 2011. Breivik's Polish purchases initially led to him being put on the watch list of the Norwegian intelligence, which did not act because they did not believe it was relevant.
He had also planned a last religious service (in Frogner Church
Frogner church
Frogner Church is a church in the Frogner borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. The congregation is part of the Church of Norway, the country's state church.-History:...
) before the attack.
On 18 May 2009 Breivik registered a Sole proprietorship
Sole proprietorship
A sole proprietorship, also known as the sole trader or simply a proprietorship, is a type of business entity that is owned and run by one individual and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business. The owner receives all profits and has unlimited responsibility for...
called Breivik Geofarm in order to buy fertilizer without arousing suspicion. Upon registration, Breivik stated that the company would grow vegetables, melons and tubers. The place of business was set to Åmot
Åmot
Åmot is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rena...
in Hedmark
Hedmark
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The...
. On 4 May 2011 Breivik purchased six tons of fertilizer (13,227 pounds) through Geofarm at Felleskjøpet
Felleskjøpet
Felleskjøpet or FK is a Norwegian agricultural cooperative that serves as a retailer of agricultural operating equipment including animal food and seeds. It is also a wholesaler of grains...
. The amount is an average purchase of fertilizer in Norway. Three tons consisting of ammonium nitrate and three tons consisting of calcium ammonium nitrate
Calcium ammonium nitrate
Calcium ammonium nitrate, often abbreviated CAN, is a fertilizer which is a blend of about 20%-30% CaCO3 and 70%-80% Ammonium nitrate. It is used as a general plant fertilizer. It is an example for nitrogenous fertiliser.-References:Ammonium nitrate...
. According to some of the neighbors, all the fertilizer was stored in his barn. This was the fertilizer used to make the Oslo bomb. After conducting a reconstruction of the bomb with equivalent amount of fertilizer on the farm in Åmot, police and bomb experts concluded that the bomb had been 950 kilograms.. About the same size as the one used in the 2002 Bali bombings. Afterwards there was significant debate in Norway how an amateur could acquire so substantial amounts of fertilizer and in addition manufacture and place such a lethal weapon in the middle of Regjeringskvartalet
Regjeringskvartalet
Regjeringskvartalet is a collection of buildings in the centre of Norwegian capital city Oslo housing several of the offices of the Government of Norway...
all by himself. The conclusion by Felleskjøpet
Felleskjøpet
Felleskjøpet or FK is a Norwegian agricultural cooperative that serves as a retailer of agricultural operating equipment including animal food and seeds. It is also a wholesaler of grains...
was that there is no legislation to keep agricultural businesses from purchasing as much fertilizer as they please, and that Geofarm was completely legitimate and there was nothing suspicious about Breivik's purchase. This was confirmed by the director of the Norwegian Police Security Service, Janne Kristiansen
Janne Kristiansen
Janne Kristiansen is a Norwegian jurist.She worked as a public defender in Borgarting Court of Appeal from 1986 and Moss District Court from 1990. From 2004 to 2009 she led the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission....
, who stated "not even STASI
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
could have prevented this attack"
Breivik Geofarm
Apparently Breivik began the planning of terrorist acts in the early 2000's. In the spring of 2009 Behring Breivik created a sole proprietorship called Breivik Geofarm, a company established under the fictitious purpose «the cultivation of vegetables, melons, roots and tubers.» The real purpose was to provide access to chemicals and materials, especially fertilizerFertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
that could be used for the production of explosives.
The company should have listed at least two Swedish employees at the social networking site Facebook, but it is uncertain whether these people actually existed.
In April 2011 he reported moving from Oslo to Vålstua farm in the municipality of Åmot
Åmot
Åmot is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rena...
, located about 9 kilometres south of the community center Rena, on the east side of Glomma. Agricultural company was driven from the farm, and gave access to ingredients for explosives.
On 4 May 2011 Behring Breivik bought six tons of fertilizer, alledgedly for farming purposes, and kept it in a garage on the farm in Åmot. In 82 days stayed Behring Breivik on the farm, where he ran the practical preparations for a terrorist attack, and among them produced more fertilizer bombs: one test bomb that was exploded in the natural terrain and one car bomb of 950 kg, which was blown up in downtown Oslo on 22 July 2011 where it killed eight people. He had at least between 1000 and 1500 kg additional material that was left on the farm and could be used for construction of a third bomb.
Weapons training
Beside visiting firing ranges and countries with relaxed gun laws to sharpen his skill, a manifesto, supposedly written by Breivik (though this is unconfirmed) claims he made use of the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on...
as a training simulation while using World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
as a cover
Cover-up
A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrong-doing, error, incompetence or other embarrassing information...
for his extended period of isolation.
Oslo bombing
On 22 July 2011 at 15:25:22 (CESTCentral European Summer Time
Central European Summer Time is one of the names of the Daylight saving time offset using the UTC offset of UTC+02:00, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in most European countries. During the winter, Central European Time is used...
)
a bomb detonated in Regjeringskvartalet
Regjeringskvartalet
Regjeringskvartalet is a collection of buildings in the centre of Norwegian capital city Oslo housing several of the offices of the Government of Norway...
, downtown Oslo. The bomb was placed in a Volkswagen Crafter
Volkswagen Crafter
The Volkswagen Crafter, introduced in 2006, is the largest 3 to 5 tonne van sold by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. It is the third generation of the Volkswagen LT truck, which has been in production since 1975....
and parked in front of the H block, housing the Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Justice and the Police, and several other governmental buildings, such as the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (R4), Ministry of Finance (G block), Ministry of Education and Research (Y block) and the Supreme Court of Norway
Supreme Court of Norway
The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo and is Norway's highest court...
(behind the G block). Breivik was registered by surveillance cameras as parking the car at 15:13:43, then standing by it for 1 minute and 54 seconds, whereafter he was walking away, visibly holding a gun in his hand. Security guards registered the car as of unknown origin and started searching for the driver. Breivik was, however, not observed.
The explosion started fires in the H block and R4, and the shock wave blew out the windows on all floors as well as in the VG house
Verdens Gang
Verdens Gang , generally known under the abbreviation VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper...
and other buildings on the other side of the square. The streets in the area were filled with glass and debris following the explosion. A cloud of white smoke was reported as a fire continued to burn at the Department of Oil and Energy. The blast was heard at least 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) away.
At 15:26 the police received the first message about the explosion, and at 15:28 the first police patrol reported that it had arrived at the scene. At the same time, news agency NTB
Norwegian News Agency
The Norwegian News Agency is a Norwegian press agency and wire service that serves many of the largest Norwegian media outlets. It also cooperates closely with the photo agency Scanpix, in which it has a 50% ownership share.NTB was founded in 1867...
was told that the Prime Minister was unhurt and safe.
Following the explosion, police cleared the area and searched for any additional explosive devices. Through media outlets, police urged citizens to evacuate central Oslo.
Police later announced that the bomb was composed of a mixture of fertiliser and fuel oil (ANFO
ANFO
ANFO is a widely used bulk industrial explosive mixture. It consists of 94 percent porous prilled ammonium nitrate , that acts as the oxidizing agent and absorbent for the fuel — six percent Number 2 Fuel Oil...
), similar to that used in the Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
.
Impact on transportation
Immediately after the explosion, the area surrounding the damaged buildings was cordoned off and evacuated. People were asked to remain calm and leave the city center if possible, but there was no general evacuation. The subway system remained operational, and most of the tram network was also running, although sporadically, except for the line through Grensen (the street between Prof. Aschehoug's plass and Stortorvet). Buses also continued to run, although at least one articulated busArticulated bus
An articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...
on the No.37 line, which stops outside the Ministry of Finance, was commandeered to evacuate the walking wounded
Walking wounded
In first aid and triage, the walking wounded are injured persons who are of a relatively low priority. These patients are conscious and breathing and usually have only relatively minor injuries; thus they are capable of walking...
.
An e-mail communication with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
from a traveller indicated that police were conducting searches in cars on the road to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...
, which remained open.
The Gardermoen Line between Lillestrøm
Lillestrøm
' is a city in the municipality of Skedsmo, Akershus, Norway. The municipal administration is located in Lillestrøm.Facilities in Lillestrøm include hotels, Norway trade fairs, a brand new cinema, a mall, Lillestrøm torv, restaurants, a high speed commuter train that reaches both Oslo and...
and Oslo Airport was shut down after a suspicious package was found close to the tracks. The same happened at the offices of TV 2
TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....
which were evacuated after a suspicious package was found outside the building.
Attack
69 people were killed, and of the 517 survivors66 were injured.Approximately one and a half hours after the Oslo explosion, a man wearing a police uniform, confirmed to be Anders Behring Breivik, boarded the ferry MS Thorbjørn
MS Thorbjørn
MS Thorbjørn is a vessel owned by AUF. Under AUFs annual summer camp, the vessel shutteld between Utøya and Utøykaia on the mainland. The vessel was built at Oskarshamn Shipyard in 1948. It was previously called Rasmus and was bought by AUF in 1997 for 250 000 SEK...
at Utøykaia
Utøykaia
Utøykaia, also called «Thorbjørnkaia», is a ferry landing in Tyrifjorden. The pier is located ca. 450 meter south for the pier at Utvika Camping. The sign "Utøya" on the main road points to Utøykaia. From the ferry landing on the mainland it is ca. 600 meter to the ferry landing at Utøya.MS...
in Tyrifjorden
Tyrifjorden
Tyrifjorden is Norway's fifth largest lake with an area of 137 km2. It has a volume of 13 km3, is 295 meters deep at its deepest, and lies 63 meters above sea level...
, a lake some 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) northwest of Oslo, to the island of Utøya
Utøya
Utøya is a small island in the Tyrifjorden lake in Hole municipality, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. The island is , situated off the shore, by the E16 road, driving distance north-west of Oslo city centre.-Overview:...
, the location of the Norwegian Labour Party's annual AUF
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
youth summer camp, which is organised there every summer and which was attended by approximately 600 teenagers.
When Breivik arrived on the island, he presented himself as a police officer who had come over for a routine check following the bombing event in Oslo. He signalled and asked people to gather around him before pulling weapons and ammunition from a bag and indiscriminately firing his weapons, killing and wounding numerous people. He first shot people on the island and later started shooting at people who were trying to escape by swimming across the lake. Survivors on the island described a scene of terror. In one example, 21-year-old survivor Dana Barzingi described how several victims wounded by Breivik pretended to be dead to survive; but he later came back and shot them again. He did relent in his executions on some occasions: First, when an 11-year-old boy who had just lost his father during the shooting, stood up against him and said he was too young to die; and later, when a 22-year-old male begged for his life.
Some witnesses on the island were reported to have hidden in the undergrowth, and in lavatories, communicating by text message to avoid giving their positions away to the gunman. The mass shooting reportedly lasted for around an hour and a half, ending when a police special task force arrived and the gunman surrendered, despite having ammunition left, at 18:35. It is also reported that the shooter used hollow-point or frangible bullets (incorrectly but popularly called dum-dums) which increase tissue damage.
The island's manager for over 20 years, Monica Bøsei, 45, known as “Mother Utøya”, was one of the victims. Her husband and one of her two daughters were also present, but escaped with their lives. The youngest victim, Sharidyn Svebakk-Boehn, just turned 14 years old, and wrote a blog describing the days before her murder.
Local residents in a flotilla of little motorboats and fishing dinghies sailed out to rescue the survivors who were pulled out shivering and bleeding from the water and picked up from hiding places in the bushes and behind rocks around the island's shoreline. Some survived by pretending to be dead. Several campers, especially those with the experience to know the island well, swam to the island's rocky west side and hid in the caves which are only accessible from the water. Others were able to hide away on the secluded Kjærlighetsstien ("love path"). 47 of the campers sought refuge in Skolestua ("the School House") together with personnel from the Norwegian People's Aid. Although Breivik shot two bullets through the door, he did not get through the locked door, and the people inside this building survived.
Two ethnic Chechen
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
teenagers Movsar Dzhamayev, 17, and Rustam Daudov, 16, who were at the island described later that they were reminded of the war in their native Chechnya
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
. "I have seen people being shot before in my country when I was small and had flashbacks," Dzhamayev said. But after speaking to his father by cell phone, he pulled himself together. "My dad said, 'Attack the perpetrator and do it properly,'" he said. With a third unidentified friend, the teens armed themselves with stones and returned to the scene only to witness Breivik killing another teenager. "We stood three meters from him and wanted to beat him, but then he shot one of our friends in the head. So we just threw the stones and ran for our lives," Daudov said.
The teenagers said that they had decided that it was too difficult to stop the gunman. They discovered a cave-like opening in a rock where they managed to hide 23 children from Breivik. Dzhamayev, who kept guard outside, also dragged three youngsters from the lake who were close to drowning.
The police have declined to say what guns he used for the attacks or how he acquired them.
Former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian Social democratic politician, diplomat, and physician, and an international leader in sustainable development and public health. She served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway , and has served as the Director General of the World Health Organization...
, whom Breivik said he hated and, in a pun on the epithet Landsmoderen - "mother of the nation", referred to in his writings as landsmorderen - "murderer of the nation", had been on the island earlier in the day to give a speech to the camp. After the attack Breivik stated that he originally wanted to target her specifically; but because of delays related to the ongoing renovation of Oslo Central railway station, she was already gone when the shooting started.
Rescue and emergency response
Initially, as the besieged people from Utøya tried to call the emergency services, they were told to keep off the line unless they were calling about the Oslo bomb.The first person to arrive on the scene was Marcel Gleffe, a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
resident of Ski
Ski, Norway
is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Follo. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Ski. Ski was separated from the municipality of Kråkstad on 1 July 1931 to form a separate municipality...
vacationing at a holiday camp on the mainland. Recognizing gunshots, he piloted his boat to the island and began throwing lifejackets to young people in the water, rescuing as many as he could in four or five trips, after which the police asked him to stop. The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
credited him with saving up to 30 lives. Another forty were saved by Hege Dalen and Toril Hansen, a married lesbian couple holidaying in the area. The couple made a total of four trips to the island to rescue campers, and at one point came under fire. Several dozen more were rescued by Kasper Ilaug, who made three trips to the island. Ilaug, a local resident, received a telephone call that "something terrible" was happening on Utoya and requesting help. He initially thought the call was a prank, but acted anyway. Altogether, some 150 who swam away from the island were pulled out of the fjord by campers on the opposite shore.
At 17:27 the local police district learned about the shooting, and two minutes later the police in Oslo were informed. By 17:38, the Norwegian central counter-terrorist unit Beredskapstroppen
Beredskapstroppen
Beredskapstroppen , call sign Delta, is a specialized police unit situated in Oslo, Norway. It is the main public force counter-terrorism unit in Norway, trained to perform dangerous operations such as high-risk arrests and hostage situations...
was dispatched to Utøya from their headquarters in Oslo. However special forces in Oslo did not have a helicopter available that could take them straight to the island. The only helicopter available to the Oslo-based unit was a military one parked 60 km south of the capital at Moss Airport
Moss Airport, Rygge
Moss Airport, Rygge is an international airport serving Moss, Oslo and Eastern Norway, located in Rygge. It is both a regional airport for Østfold as well as an airport for low-cost airlines. The airport is located outside Moss and outside Oslo and is owned and operated by the private company...
in Rygge
Rygge
Rygge is a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rygge. Rygge was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 .The emblem of Rygge is the Pasque flower...
, and thus the special unit had to reach the location by cars.
They reached the ferry crossing at 18:09, but had to wait a few minutes for a boat to take them across. They reached Utøya at 18:25. When confronted by the heavily armed police on the island, the gunman initially hesitated for a few seconds. But when an officer yelled "surrender or be shot" he decided to lay down his weapons.
Anders Breivik called 112 (emergency telephone number) at least twice to surrender, at 18:01 and 18:26, and continued killing people in between. The police says Breivik hung up both times; they tried to call him back but did not succeed.
When the police arrived at the scene, they were met by survivors begging the officers to throw away their weapons, as they were afraid that the men in uniforms would again open fire on them.
Shortage of transport capacity
The Norwegian police do not have helicopters suitable for transporting groups of police for an airdrop. The one they have is useful only for surveillance and the helicopter crew was on vacation. When the local police arrived at UtøykaiaUtøykaia
Utøykaia, also called «Thorbjørnkaia», is a ferry landing in Tyrifjorden. The pier is located ca. 450 meter south for the pier at Utvika Camping. The sign "Utøya" on the main road points to Utøykaia. From the ferry landing on the mainland it is ca. 600 meter to the ferry landing at Utøya.MS...
, less than 30 minutes after the first shot was fired, they could not find a suitable boat to reach the island. They were then ordered to observe and report.
AUFs own ferry, MS Thorbjørn
MS Thorbjørn
MS Thorbjørn is a vessel owned by AUF. Under AUFs annual summer camp, the vessel shutteld between Utøya and Utøykaia on the mainland. The vessel was built at Oskarshamn Shipyard in 1948. It was previously called Rasmus and was bought by AUF in 1997 for 250 000 SEK...
was used by the terrorist to go to Utøya. Shortly after the first shot was fired, nine people were leaving the island with the ferry, among them the AUF-leader Eskil Pedersen
Eskil Pedersen
Eskil Pedersen is a Norwegian politician and leader of the Workers' Youth League , the youth organisation associated with Norway's leading Labour Party....
. They feared there might be more terrorists in the area and navigated the ferry 2.7 km to the north. Hence the ferry was not available to the police when they arrived at Utøykaia, the normal ferry landing on the mainland.
The police therefore had to use their own RIB-boat. The day of the event, this boat was located in Hønefoss, and had to be transported to the lake and launched before it could be used. When the anti-terror police boarded the RIB-boat it took in some water and after a few hundred meters, the engine stopped, probably due to water in the gasoline. Two minutes later they took over a civilian boat that was sent to assist them. The episode is captured on video. A minute or two after the video ends, another and faster civilian boat arrived to help out. Four police officers from the anti-terror police boarded the boat. Not to waste any more time the civilian couple, was driving the police to Utøya; hence they was participating in an amphibious assault
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
from an small open boat.
Some have criticized the police for not using a helicopter, for not immediately getting into small boats, and for endangering the couple who drove the civilian boat.
Arrest of innocent survivor
On arriving in Utøya, the police arrested, in addition to Breivik, Anzor Djoukaev, an innocent 17-year old survivor who represented the AkershusAkershus
- Geography :The county is conventionally divided into the traditional districts Follo and Romerike, which fill the vast part of the county, as well as the small exclave west of Oslo that consists of Asker and Bærum...
branch of AUF
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
. The youth was reportedly stripped naked and locked up in a jail cell, located only meters away from the cell housing the self-confessed killer. The victim, who as a child had witnessed mass murders in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
, was suspected of being an accomplice because his haircut was different from that shown on his identity document
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
, and because he did not react to the carnage with the same tears and hysteria as most of the other survivors. He was kept in custody for seventeen hours. Barrister Harald Stabell
Harald Stabell
Harald Stabell is a Norwegian barrister.He worked as a defender in Eidsivating Court of Appeal from 1990 to 1995 and in Borgarting Court of Appeal and Oslo City Court from 1995. Since 2005 he is a barrister with access to Supreme Court cases.He resides in Oslo, and has been a minor ticket...
criticized the police for failing to contact the youth's family, who feared he was killed, and for interrogating the victim without a lawyer present.
Casualties
Oslo
Eight people were killed in the explosion, with eleven seriously wounded, and fifteen suffering minor injuries. A doctor at the Oslo University HospitalOslo University Hospital
The Oslo University Hospital is one of the largest hospital in Scandinavia, with a working force of more than 20,000. It was established on 1 January 2009, by the merger of three of the university hospitals in Oslo: Rikshospitalet , Ullevål University Hospital , and Aker University...
said the hospital staff were treating head, chest and abdominal wounds.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was at his official residence near the Royal Palace, preparing the speech he was scheduled to give at Utøya the next day. Norway’s finance minister, Sigbjørn Johnsen
Sigbjørn Johnsen
Sigbjørn Johnsen is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party and the current Norwegian Minister of Finance....
, was on holiday in Denmark at the time.
Fewer people than usual were in the area because the bombing took place during July, the usual vacation month for Norwegians, and since it was Friday afternoon, most government employees had gone home for the weekend.
Utøya
At approximately 03:50 (CESTCentral European Summer Time
Central European Summer Time is one of the names of the Daylight saving time offset using the UTC offset of UTC+02:00, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in most European countries. During the winter, Central European Time is used...
) on 23 July, NRK1
NRK1
NRK1 is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's main television channel. Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadcasts started in 20 August 1960. It is Norway's oldest and largest television channel...
and TV2
TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....
, the two primary Norwegian television networks, broadcast a live press conference from the Sentrum politistasjon in Oslo where Norway's National Police Commissioner Øystein Mæland
Øystein Mæland
Øystein Mæland is a Norwegian psychiatrist, civil servant and politician for the Labour Party.He was born in Rjukan. He took the cand.med...
stated the number of fatalities at Utøya to have reached "at least 80" with the count expected to increase.
On 25 July, a police spokesperson revealed that the death toll of the victims on Utøya had been revised downwards to 68 after the casualties had been counted on their return to the mainland. They added that the number of people missing was still high and that the number of casualties could be as high as 86. On 29 July police announced that one of the severely wounded victims from Utøya had died in a hospital, bringing the death toll from the island massacre to 69 (and 77 total, including 8 from the bombing in Oslo).
On 26 July, the Norwegian police began releasing the names and dates of birth of the victims on their website. By 29 July, the names of all 77 victims (eight from the bomb attack, 69 from Utøya) had been published, the last, a shooting victim, having been found on the 28th. The median age of the deceased was 18 years and the average age 21.8 years.
| Age of the deceased | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 34 | 43 | 45 | 51 | 56 | 61 |
| Fatalities | 2 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Trond Berntsen, an off-duty, unarmed police officer and step-brother of Norway's crown princess Mette-Marit
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway , is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.-Background and education:...
, was among the dead.
Victims
On 1 August, the Norwegian national broadcasting company (NRK) revealed that a total of 153 people were injured during the attacks, in addition to the 77 deaths (reported down from an original figure of over 90). Ninety-one of the injured were brought to hospital or other medical treatment from the Oslo bombing, 62 from the Utøya shooting. On 2 August, the same source revised the number of injured from the Oslo bombing to 89, to a total of 151.Perpetrator
Public broadcaster NRK and several other Norwegian media outlets identified the suspected attacker as Anders Behring Breivik. He was arrested on Utøya for the shootings and also linked to the Oslo bombing. He has been charged with terrorism for both attacks. According to his attorney, Breivik has acknowledged that he is responsible for both the bomb and the shooting during interrogation but denies culpability, as he asserts that his actions were “atrocious but necessary”. At his initial arraignment on 25 July, Breivik was remanded into custody for eight weeks, the first half to be in solitary confinement. Breivik wanted to have an open hearing, and attend it wearing a uniform of his own design, but both requests were denied by the presiding judge.Political and religious views
Breivik is linked to a compendiumCompendium
A compendium is a concise, yet comprehensive compilation of a body of knowledge. A compendium may summarize a larger work. In most cases the body of knowledge will concern some delimited field of human interest or endeavour , while a "universal" encyclopedia can be referred to as a compendium of...
entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence bearing the name "Andrew Berwick", the file was e-mailed to 1,003 addresses about 90 minutes before the bomb blast in Oslo. Analysts described him as having Islamophobic views and a hatred of Islam, and as someone who considered himself as a knight dedicated to stemming the tide of Muslim immigration into Europe.
The introductory chapter of the manifesto defining "Cultural Marxism
Cultural Marxism
Cultural Marxism is a term referring to a group of Marxists who have sought to apply critical theory to matters of family composition, gender, race, and cultural identity within Western society.-Explanation of the "Cultural Marxism" theory:...
" is a copy of Political Correctness: A Short History of an Ideology by the Free Congress Foundation
Free Congress Foundation
The Free Congress Foundation , is a conservative think tank founded by Paul Weyrich. It was based near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C...
. Major parts of the compendium are attributed to the pseudonymous Norwegian blogger Fjordman
Fjordman
Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen is a Norwegian far-right anti-Islamic blogger who writes under the pseudonym Fjordman. Jensen wrote anonymously as Fjordman starting in 2005, until he disclosed his identity in 2011. He has been active in the counterjihad movement, which argues that multiculturalism,...
. The text also copies sections of the Unabomber manifesto, without giving credit, while exchanging the words "leftists" for "cultural Marxists" and "black people" for "muslims". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described American influences in the writings, noting that the compendium mentions the anti-Islamist American Robert Spencer 64 times and cites Spencer's works at great length. The work of Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or is a pseudonym of Gisèle Littman, née Orebi, an Egyptian-born British writer and political commentator who writes about the history of non-Muslims in the Middle East, and in particular the history of Christian and Jewish dhimmis living under Islamic governments.She is the author of eight...
is cited dozens of times. Neoconservative blogger Pamela Geller
Pamela Geller
Pamela Geller is an American blogger, author, political activist, and commentator. She is known primarily for her criticisms of Islam and opposition to Muslim activities and causes, such as the proposed construction of an Islamic community center near the former site of the World Trade Center...
, Neo-pagan writer Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst
Koenraad Elst is a Belgian writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal Teksten, Kommentaren en Studies from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke,...
and Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
are also mentioned as sources of inspiration. The manifesto further contains quotes from Middle-eastern expert Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis
Bernard Lewis, FBA is a British-American historian, scholar in Oriental studies, and political commentator. He is the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University...
, Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
, Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, as well as from Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
's Sunday Times column and Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips is a British journalist and author. She began her career on the left of the political spectrum, writing for such publications as The Guardian and New Statesman. In the 1990s she moved to the right, and she now writes for the Daily Mail newspaper, covering political and social...
' Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
column. The publication speaks in admiration of Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Magan Ali is a Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist, writer, politician who strongly opposes circumcision and female genital cutting. She is the daughter of the Somali politician and opposition leader Hirsi Magan Isse and is a founder of the women's rights organisation the AHA...
, Bruce Bawer
Bruce Bawer
Bruce Bawer is an American literary critic, writer and poet. His work focuses mainly on criticism and issues related to Islam.-Personal life:Bawer received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D...
, Srđa Trifković
Srđa Trifković
Srđa Trifković is a Serbian writer on international affairs and foreign affairs editor for the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles. He was director of the Center for International Affairs at the Rockford Institute until his...
, and Henryk M. Broder. The compendium advocates a restoration of patriarchy
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
, which it claims would save European culture.
The compendium contains his militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
far-right ideology and xenophobic
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
worldview, which espouses an array of political concepts; including support for varying degrees of cultural conservatism
Cultural conservatism
Cultural conservatism is described as the preservation of the heritage of one nation, or of a shared culture that is not defined by national boundaries. Other variants of cultural conservatism are concerned with culture attached to a given language such as Arabic.The shared culture may be as...
, right-wing populism
Right-wing populism
Right-wing populism is a political ideology that rejects existing political consensus and combines laissez-faire liberalism and anti-elitism. It is considered "right-wing" because of its rejection of social equality and government programs to achieve it, its opposition to social integration, and...
, ultranationalism, Islamophobia
Islamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
, "far-right Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
", and Serbian paramilitarism. It regards Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and "cultural Marxism
Cultural Marxism
Cultural Marxism is a term referring to a group of Marxists who have sought to apply critical theory to matters of family composition, gender, race, and cultural identity within Western society.-Explanation of the "Cultural Marxism" theory:...
" as the enemy and argues for the annihilation of "Eurabia
Eurabia
Eurabia is a conspiracy theory about the alleged Arabization and Islamization of Europe, and the European leaders' alleged capitulation to Islamic influences.-Origin of the term:...
" and multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, to preserve a Christian Europe
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
. He further urged Europeans to restore the historic crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
against Islam as in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. A video Breivik released on YouTube 6 hours before the attack, has been described as promoting violence towards Muslims and Marxists who reside in Europe.
Among other things, in the manifesto he identified the Beneš Decrees
Beneš decrees
Decrees of the President of the Republic , more commonly known as the Beneš decrees, were a series of laws that were drafted by the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II and issued by President...
, which facilitated the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and expulsions of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II....
after the Second World War, as an example for committing that act on European Muslims
Islam in Europe
This article deals with the history and evolution of the presence of Islam in Europe. According to the German , the total number of Muslims in Europe in 2007 was about 53 million , excluding Turkey. The total number of Muslims in the European Union in 2007 was about 16 million .-Early history:Islam...
. In his manifesto he also urges the Hindus to drive Muslims out of India. He demands the gradual deportation of all Muslims from Europe from 2011 to 2083 through repatriation
Repatriation
Repatriation is the process of returning a person back to one's place of origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning refugees or soldiers to their place of origin following a war...
. He blames feminism for allowing the erosion of the fabric of European society.
Breivik's writings mention the English Defense League, claiming that he had contact with senior members of the EDL, and that a Norwegian version of the group, was 'in the process of gaining strength'. He wrote that the EDL were 'naïve fools' because in his words the EDL 'harshly condemns any and all revolutionary conservative movements that employ terror as a tool'. EDL leader Tommy Robinson denounced Breivik and the attack on 26 July 2011 and denied any links with the Norwegian.
After being apprehended, Breivik was characterized by police officials as being a right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
extremist
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
and an Islamophobe
Islamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
. Breivik is described by the newspaper Verdens Gang
Verdens Gang
Verdens Gang , generally known under the abbreviation VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper...
as considering himself a conservative nationalist. According to The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
, Breivik was highly critical of Muslim immigration into Christian societies, is pro-Israel and an admirer of the US Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
. Deputy police chief Roger Andresen
Roger Andresen
Roger Andresen is a Norwegian police officer.As of 2011 he is deputy police chief and leader of the public order department of Oslo Police District. He has been deputy police chief since 1995...
initially told reporters that "We have no more information than... what has been found on [his] own websites, which is that it goes towards the right and that it is, so to speak, Christian fundamentalist." Subsequently, others have disputed Andresen's characterization of Breivik as a Christian fundamentalist. Furthermore, Breivik stated that "myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
." According to the International Business Times, in his manifesto, he "did not see himself as religious", but he did identify as a cultural Christian
Cultural Christian
A cultural Christian is a secular or irreligious individual who still significantly identifies with Christian culture. The term is used, for example, by atheist Richard Dawkins in reference to himself...
and wrote about the differences between cultural and religious Christians, but stressed that both were Christians, and shared the same identity and goals. He has written many posts on the far-right website document.no
Document.no
Document.no is a Norwegian website, which describes itself as a "blog on politics, public debate, media criticism and culture." The website holds positions that are critical towards Islam and immigration, and supportive of Israel. The National Library of Norway classifies document.no under...
. He attended meetings of "Documents venner" (Friends of Document), affiliated with the Document.no website. He is a former member of the Progress Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
(FrP) and its youth wing FpU. According to the current FpU leader Ove Vanebo
Ove Vanebo
Ove André Vanebo is a Norwegian politician for the Progress Party.Since 2008 he is the chairman of the Youth of the Progress Party, the youth wing of the Progress Party....
, Breivik was active early in the 2000s, but he left the party as his viewpoints became more extreme.
In his online YouTube video, he expressed admiration of past European leaders who waged war against Islam and Muslims, naming Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
, Richard Lionheart, El Cid
El Cid
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , known as El Cid Campeador , was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat...
, Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia , also known by his patronymic Dracula , and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler , was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans...
, Jacques de Molay
Jacques de Molay
Jacques de Molay was the 23rd and last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, leading the Order from 20 April 1292 until it was dissolved by order of Pope Clement V in 1312...
, Tsar Nicholas
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
and John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...
. A recently created social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
website bearing Breivik's name and picture but of unknown authorship refers to him as an admirer of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and Max Manus
Max Manus
Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II.Manus was born in Bergen to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother...
, and also of Dutch politician Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
, whose political party, the Party for Freedom
Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom is a Dutch right-wing political party. Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It...
, he describes as "the only true party of conservatives".
Attorney
The police initially kept the choice of counsel secret after request from the attorney. Attorney Geir LippestadGeir Lippestad
Geir Lippestad is a Norwegian lawyer and head of the law firm Lippestad. He has been defence counsel in high profile cases such as the murder of Benjamin Hermansen and the 2011 Norway attacks.-Education and cases:He obtained the cand.jur...
elected to act on behalf of Breivik's defense, confirming to the Dagbladet
Dagbladet
Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....
newspaper that Breivik had requested him personally. Lippestad said "I thought carefully about it. Everyone is entitled to a lawyer, even in a case like this, and I decided to accept."
Possible accomplices
Several witnesses at the youth camp expressed doubt that there was only one shooter. The police have received descriptions of a second gunman, and are currently working to confirm or deny the accuracy of this new information. Due to the uncertainty surrounding these witness descriptions and the chaotic nature of the events, the police have, as a matter of precaution, yet to make an official comment on the matter. Breivik has claimed that he acted alone and that he had no accomplices, according to some reports. However, according to other reports, Breivik claimed to have accomplices. On 24 July, six more people were arrested in Oslo in connection with the attacks and then released as they were said to be no longer suspected of involvement.Reactions
Domestic
King HaraldHarald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...
sent his condolences to the victims and their families, and urged unity.
At a press conference on the morning after the attacks, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Justice Minister Knut Storberget
Knut Storberget
Knut Storberget is a Norwegian barrister and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He became the Minister of Justice and the Police serving in the second cabinet Stoltenberg from 2005. Storberget stepped down on November 11, 2011.He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hedmark in...
addressed the country. Stoltenberg called the attack a "national tragedy" and the worst atrocity in Norway since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Stoltenberg further vowed that the attack would not hurt Norwegian democracy, and said the proper answer to the violence was "more democracy, more openness, but not naivety". In his speech at the memorial service on 24 July 2011, he opined
Opinion
In general, an opinion is a subjective belief, and is the result of emotion or interpretation of facts. An opinion may be supported by an argument, although people may draw opposing opinions from the same set of facts. Opinions rarely change without new arguments being presented...
what would be a proper reaction: "No one has said it better than the AUF girl who was interviewed by CNN: 'If one man can show so much hate, think how much love we could show, standing together.'"
The leader of the Workers' Youth League
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
, Eskil Pedersen
Eskil Pedersen
Eskil Pedersen is a Norwegian politician and leader of the Workers' Youth League , the youth organisation associated with Norway's leading Labour Party....
, vowed to "return to Utøya" and urged Norway to continue its tradition of openness and tolerance.
Leaders of Norwegian political parties expressed grief and sent condolences in public statements.
On 1 August 2011, Norway's parliament, nominally in recess for the summer, reconvened for an extraordinary session to honour the victims of the attack. In a departure from parliamentary procedure, both King Harald V and Crown Prince Haakon were present. The president of Norway's Parliament, Dag Terje Andersen
Dag Terje Andersen
Dag Terje Andersen is a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. In addition to professional politics he has been working at a steel mill and as a lumberjack, something that has given him a reputation for representing the average guy in politics.He was elected into the Norwegian...
read out loud the names of all 77 victims. The session was open to the public, but due to limited seating, priority was given to relatives of the deceased.
The seven political parties in the parliament agreed to postpone the electoral campaign for local elections
Norwegian local elections, 2011
Nationwide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on 12 September 2011. Several municipalities also opened the polling booths on 11 September. For most polling stations this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections...
, held in September, until mid-August. School debates were cancelled, though the school elections were not.
Initially, Magnus Ranstorp
Magnus Ranstorp
Dr Magnus Ranstorp, born March 13, 1965 in Hästveda, studies Hizballah, Hamas, al-Qaeda and other militant Islamic movements. He is the Research Director of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, directing a project on Strategic Terrorist Threats to Europe...
and other terror experts suspected that foreigners were behind the attacks. Non-ethnic Norwegians, especially Muslim Norwegians, were subjected to spitting and other forms of harassment, and violence.
International
The United Nations, the European Union, NATO, and governments around the world expressed their condemnation of the attacks, condolences, and solidarity with Norway. However, there have also been reports of European politicians giving support to the killings or excusing them as a result of multi-culturalism. Interviewed on a popular radio show, the Italian MEP Francesco Speroni, a leading member of the Lega Nord, the junior partner in Berlusconi's conservative coalition, said: "Breivik's ideas are in defence of western civilisation." Similar views were voiced by Italian MEP Mario Borghezio. Werner Koenigshofer, a member of the National Council of AustriaNational Council of Austria
The National Council is one of the two houses of the Austrian parliament. According to the constitution, the National Council and the complementary Federal Council are peers...
, was expelled from the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...
after equating the massacre with the death of millions of fetuses through abortion.
On 25 July 2011, at noon (CEST), each of the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
held a minute of silence
Moment of silence
A moment of silence is the expression for a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of respect, particularly in mourning for those who have recently died or as part of a commemoration ceremony...
to dignify the victims of the two attacks. Norway's minute of silence stretched to five minutes. In Oslo, a city of approximately 600,000 inhabitants, an estimated 200,000 people attended a "flower march".
The Norwegian media reported criticism against Fox News and its commentator Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck
Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
for their coverage of the attacks. Beck's comparison of the AUF
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
to the Hitler Youth led Frank Aarebrot
Frank Aarebrot
Frank Henrik Aarebrot is a Norwegian political scientist from Bergen. He is professor of comparative politics at the University of Bergen and professor II of democracy development at the Örebro University. He regularly lectures at Institut des Sciences Politiques and at the Humboldt University...
, a Norwegian professor with political sympathies to the Norwegian Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
, to call Beck a "fascist" and "swine".
Legal proceedings
On 25 July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik was arraigned in Oslo District CourtOslo District Court
Oslo District Court is the district court serving Oslo, Norway. Cases may be appealed to Borgarting Court of Appeal. As the largest district court in Norway, it handles about 20% of all cases in the country...
. The police feared that Breivik would use the hearing as an opportunity to communicate with possible accomplices. Because of this, the arraignment was held completely closed to the media and all other spectators. Instead, judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
Kim Heger held a press conference shortly afterwards where he read the court's decision. The practice of completely closed court hearings is extremely rare in the Norwegian justice system.
It was long debated which criminal charges to use in this unique situation. Many police attorneys wanted high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
or crimes against humanity. The prosecution ended up indicting Breivik on terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
charges. Breivik admitted to being the gunman at Utøya and the perpetrator behind the Oslo bomb, also admitting all the other actual events. Nonetheless he pleaded not guilty, stating "I do not recognise this justice system". District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
Christian Hatlo asked that Breivik be detained for eight weeks without mail or visitation. The judge ruled in favor of the prosecution, stating "the accused is an imminent danger to society and must be confined for the safety of himself and others. It is highly probable that he is guilty of the alleged crimes and imprisonment is necessary to prevent destruction of evidence". In accordance with the prosecution's wishes, Breivik was sentenced to eight weeks detention without mail or visitation, four of which in complete isolation. To be renewed no later than 19 September 2011. He was immediately transferred to Ila Landsfengsel, a maximum security prison
Maximum security prison
Maximum security prison and Supermax are grades of high security level used by prison systems in various countries.*For the United States see Incarceration in the United States#Security levels...
.
Attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Tor-Aksel Busch stated that final charges and indictment would not be ready until at least the end of the year 2011 and that hopefully the trial could start sometime in 2012
On 13 August 2011 Breivik was taken to Utøya by police to re-create his actions on the day of the massacre. Wearing a bulletproof vest and a leash, Breivik was seen to mimic a shooting action. Neither the media nor the public was alerted to the operation. The police explained that the surprise walk-through was necessary because Breivik will be charged and tried for all 77 murders individually. The police deemed it less offensive to the survivors to do it now rather than during the trial. Despite the many police boats and helicopters, none of the civilians who had come to lay down flowers on the shore this day perceived what was happening just a few hundred metres across the lake from them for a total of eight hours. On the evening of 14 August the police held a press conference about the reconstruction. It was reported that Breivik was not unmoved by his return to Utøya, but that he showed no remorse. Inspector Pål Fredrik Hjort Kraby described Breivik's behavior and indifference on the island as "unreal", as he had over the course of eight hours willingly showed the police exactly how he had carried out all of the 69 murders.
The preliminary date for the trial is set for 10 April, 2012
After-effects
Coop Norway, a chain of retail stores in Norway, is removing several brands from its shelves as a result of the attack. Some of the titles includes games like HomefrontHomefront (video game)
Homefront is a first-person shooter video game developed by now defunct Kaos Studios and published by THQ, in which players play as members of a resistance movement fighting against a near-future Korean military occupation of the United States. The story was written by John Milius, who co-wrote...
, Call of Duty series
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...
, Sniper Ghost Warrior, Counter-Strike Source and World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
.
In the days following the attacks, Norway's main political parties noted a significant increase in interest for membership from young people. Both the Norwegian Young Conservatives
Norwegian Young Conservatives
Norwegian Young Conservatives is a Norwegian youth party. Its ideology is liberal conservatism, and the party is in many ways more liberal than its mother party, Conservative Party of Norway. Henrik Asheim succeeded Torbjørn Røe Isaksen as leader in 2008.- Leaders :...
and the Progress Party's Youth, as well as the Workers' Youth League
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...
(AUF) had signed up a significant number of new members after a few days. The mother parties also reported a strong and unusual boom in new members, with the Conservative Party and the Progress Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
having signed up almost one thousand new members each by early August, while the Labour Party reported over six thousand new members at the end of the month.
Far-right groups such as Stop the Islamisation of Norway
Stop the Islamisation of Norway
Stop the Islamisation of Norway is a Norwegian anti-Islamisation organisation which was established in 2008, although its history goes back to a group started in 2000. Led by Arne Tumyr, the organisation currently has thousands of members and sympathizers....
(SIAN) and the Norwegian Defence League (NDL), as well as the Democrats party, had reportedly witnessed a boom in their memberships and interest by mid-August, with the Democrats party having signed up around one hundred new members, and the NDL around three hundred. According to professor Tore Bjørgo at the Norwegian Police University College
Norwegian Police University College
The Norwegian Police University College is a public university college located in Oslo, Kongsvinger, Stavern and Bodø, Norway. It offers education for the police force of Norway, including a three-year basic education and a possible expansion with a Master's degree. 720 students are accepted at...
in Oslo, the increased support for these far-right groups indicates that within the far right, there is a milieu that sympathizes with violent rhetoric.
In the September local elections
Norwegian local elections, 2011
Nationwide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on 12 September 2011. Several municipalities also opened the polling booths on 11 September. For most polling stations this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections...
almost two months after the attacks, strong gains were made by the Conservative Party (up 9% to 28%), and to a lesser extent the Labour Party (up 2% to 32%). On the other hand, significant setbacks were witnessed by the Progress Party (down 6% to 11%) and the Socialist Left Party
Socialist Left Party (Norway)
The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...
(down 2% to 4%).
External links
- Stor eksplosjon i Oslo sentrum, AftenpostenAftenpostenAftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...
, News report in Norwegian, with pictures. - Allvarligt bombattentat skakar Oslo, Sveriges RadioSveriges RadioSveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
, News report in Swedish, with pictures. - Norway – Breivik Attacks, July 2011 collected news and commentary at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Oslo Terrorist Attacks – Terrorism with a different face, in a different place
Images
- Oslo Attacks: A Bloody Aftermath – slideshow by Life magazine
- Norway Massacre: Island Under Siege – slideshow by Life magazine
- Deadly Attacks In Norway – slideshow by NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...