The 2011 Norwegian Terrorist Attack

Norway is a fairly small country in Europe with a population of about 5 million people and with small countries comes the quick spread of information. Whenever something occurs everyone will know. It is also considered one of the “world’s happiest countries''. As early as 2006, according to Andres Behring Breivik, the planning had begun for one of Norway's greatest tragedies. Breivik practiced in shooting clubs, buying guns, ammunition, military uniforms, and other equipment to carry out his evil acts. He then began to build a bomb that took him the whole spring and summer to build. On July 22, 2011 is when he decided it was time to carry out his disgusting plan. On that same day he loaded a van with his bomb while he was dressed in a police uniform and detonated the bomb in Oslo, Norway’s capital, in front of Regjeringskvartalet (the government quarter) killing 8 innocent people. 45 minutes later and 29 meters west of the city, Breivik boarded a ferry and fled to the Island of Utoya where he would continue his malicious acts.

It was said by a witness that he was so convincing as a cop that officials checked his credentials and let him board the ferry. When he arrived at a Youth League Summer Camp, on the small island of Utoya, he murdered 77 people (consisting of children and staff) with a semi automatic rifle and pistol. Another witness named Adrian Pracon, who had very traumatic first hand experience during this tragedy, shared how Breivik carried out his slaughter. Pracon told news reporters, “[h]e started making people come to him,” supporting the fact that Behring was luring the children to him. Pracon tried to swim away from the shooter but the island was too cool to escape so he swam back, where he lay motionless next to dozens of dead bodies surrounding him. During all of this Breivik continued shooting around the camp yelling “I’m going to kill you all.” 

This mass shooting lasted more than an hour before police even arrived. Breivik surrendered immediately after the police finally arrived. He was a neo-nazi and claimed his motive was to save Norway and Western Europe from a “Muslim takeover.” Before he committed his terrorist attacks he had emailed a fifteen-hundred page “manifesto” to a thousand people saying the West is at war with Muslims and multiculturalism, and that the slaughter of the campers was a “wake up call,” as a way to somehow justify his malicious actions. He has also uploaded a twelve minute video with propagandistic simplicity and making claims of what was about to happen in Europe, talking about a “Muslim Invasion.” 

In December 2011, according to Forensic psychiatrists Torgeir Husby and Synne Sørheim, Breivik was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, supporting a would-be insanity defense or criminal insanity ruling by the court. Due to heavy criticism, he was given two different psychiatrists with whom he failed to cooperate with at first, before he changed his mind. The new psychiatrists who were finally able to analyze Breivik and he was found to be legally sane. He was now able to be sentenced to prison or containment instead of going to a psychiatric hospital. He was originally sentenced to 21 years in prison but has only served 10 years. 21 years is the maximum prison sentence permitted under Norwegian law. He has pleaded for early release from his 21 year sentence recently, where he gave a Nazi salute as he entered court. He claims he is no longer a threat to society though he will still continue to advocate his white supremacy but in a “peaceful manner.” Online groups have been made supporting Breivik and some went as far as calling him a “hero.” After all he has done and the havoc he has caused I think It would be foolish to release this man back into society. None of the lives that were lost that day will be replenished. Rest in peace to the 77 people who died on July 22, 2011.