A Massacre in Norway

Whenever you think of terrorism, very rarely does any part of Scandinavia come up in conversation. But all that changed ten years ago when the world knew the name of Anders Behring Breivik, a white supremacist hell bent on infecting vulnerable people with his poisonous ideology.

But he was a nobody, he needed to make the world stand up and take notice of him and the only way to do this was to light the fire that would cause the revolution that he dreamed of. He would have to cause absolute chaos, to do this he decided he would orchestrate a massacre.

Born in 1979, Breivik spent his life in his home in Norway living with his mother and playing vast amounts of video games online. His unhealthy interest in attacking the governmental system and migrant issues his only friend, but one that he would go over in his mind again and again.

On 22^nd July 2011 he drove a van to the government buildings in the capital Oslo which included the office of the Prime Minister, setting the fuse. With no warning the explosives stored in the back exploded with devastating consequences, the shockwave sending ripples across every building in the vicinity and leaving a trail of casualties. This bombing killed 8 and left over 200 injured.

Emergency services were on their way while Breivik was already outbound, heading to his next attack. This time it was a children's political summer camping trip on the island of Utoya. Dressed as a police officer he managed to trick the ferry operators to take him over to the island saying that he was protecting the people camped there following the terrorist attack that was already making the news.

But without any inkling of what was about to happen, Breivik pulled out his weapons and opened fire, shooting everybody he could see. He began a murderous rampage across Utoya, cutting down any human being that moved, round after round ripping across the trees and outbuildings. The terrified campers hid as best they could but he did not stop. Word got out that gunfire was heard on the island and the police sped to the scene.

Armed response teams found Breivik and ordered him to lay down his weapons, he did as he was told and surrendered without a fight. By now he had killed 69 people on the island and injured 110. He was taken away and locked up, charged with terrorism which he freely admitted….yet he pleaded not guilty as he “did not recognise the court” that he was to be tried in.

After a trial lasting several months, he was found sane by a court of law and sentenced to 21 years detention, the maximum time a court can give a killer in Norway. This does not mean he will be released when his time is up, this can be extended if he is considered a threat.

In 2018 I made a visit to Oslo and went to check out the place where the bombing took place. There is a small museum which unfortunately wasn’t open at the time and a damaged bus stop was relocated from its original position a street away to outside the PM’s old office, glass still damaged and with the newspaper from the day of the bombing behind the glass for the commuters to read while waiting.

What got me was that the building looked fine, although by now it had been over 7 years since the attack, but this thought was soon dashed when I realised that the front of the building seemed to move with the wind. It took a while to see but the entire front of this tall office block was a canvas photograph designed to look like the building is still standing, behind this would be a damaged façade and no doubt empty rooms. It seems that after so many years the damage is still there and the legacy of Anders Breivik is still there to see.