Chapter 5: Oslo

20    a white Volkswagen Crafter exploded  “Anders Behring Breivik: The Indictment,” The Guardian, April 16, 2012,www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/16/anders-behring-breivik-indictment.

20    parallelled the Oklahoma City bombing  Anders Breivik later “told a Norwegian court” that he had studied “the World Trade Center bombing in New York and [Timothy] McVeigh’s 1995 attack on an Oklahoma City government building, which killed 168 people and injured over 600.” “Norway Mass Killer Anders Behring Breivik Studied al Qaeda, Oklahoma City Bombing Before Rampage,” CBS News, April 20, 2012,www.cbsnews.com/news/norway-mass-killer-anders-behring-breivik-studied-al-qaeda-oklahoma-city-bombing-before-rampage/.

20    eight people died and more than two hundred  “Anders Behring Breivik: The Indictment,”www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/16/anders-behring-breivik-indictment.

20    many Norwegians vacation in late July  Richard Milne and Andrea Gjestvang, “What Survivors Know 10 Years On from Norway’s Utøya Massacre,” Financial Times, July 15, 2021,www.ft.com/content/be85f81c-18f7-4294-850e-dc3a11a420c3.

20    Stoltenberg was unharmed Haroon Siddique and agencies, “Oslo Bomb Blast Rips Through Government Building,” The Guardian, July 22, 2011,www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/22/oslo-explosion-government-building.

20    divorced when he was a toddler, Breivik grew up in Oslo “Profile: Anders Behring Breivik,” Al Jazeera, August 24, 2012,www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/8/24/profile-anders-behring-breivik; and Jon Henley, “Anders Behring Breivik Trial: The Father’s Story,” The Guardian, April 13, 2012,www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/13/anders-behring-breivik-norway; and Asbjørn Olsen, “Breivik Was ‘Already Damaged by the Age of Two,’” TV 2, April 20, 2016,www.tv2.no/a/8241631/, via Google Translate.

20    became emotionally and psychologically abusive  Olsen, “Breivik Was ‘Already Damaged by the Age of Two,’”www.tv2.no/a/8241631/.

20    burgeoning hip-hop community  Anders Breivik, “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” manifesto, July 22, 2011. The manifesto is unpaginated, but this quote appears on page 1207 of the PDF. See also Ian Buruma, “One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad—Review,” The Guardian, February 26, 2015,www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/26/one-of-us-the-story-of-anders-breivik-massacre-norway-asne-seierstad-review.

20    became a graffiti artist  Breivik, “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” 1207; and Buruma, “One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad—Review,”www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/26/one-of-us-the-story-of-anders-breivik-massacre-norway-asne-seierstad-review.

20    Breivik left graffiti and hip-hop behind  Breivik, “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” 1207; and Kim Willsher, “Norway Gunman’s Father Speaks Out: ‘He Should Have Taken His Own Life,’” The Guardian, July 25, 2011,www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/25/norway-gunman-father-speaks.

20    roamed, sometimes out of the country “Police: Breivik Traveled Abroad to Prepare for Two Norway Attacks,” Voice of America, August 3, 2011,www.voanews.com/a/police-breivik-traveled-abroad-to-prepare-for-2-norway-attacks---126804558/170803.html.

21     joined its youth branch in 1999  “Profile: Anders Behring Breivik,”www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/8/24/profile-anders-behring-breivik.

21     a cause in the Progress Party. He came to see his calling  Breivik, “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” 1377–1378.

21     started planning his attack Breivik, “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” 1414–1415; and “‘Breivik Manifesto’ Details Chilling Attack Preparation,” BBC News, July 24, 2011,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14267007.

21     chaired the local branch of the party’s youth organization Breivik’s manifesto alleges he was “Vice Chairman in the Progress Party Youth—Oslo West” between 2000 and 2003. Breivik, “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” 1400.

21     left the party in 2006  “Profile: Anders Behring Breivik,” Al Jazeera,www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/8/24/profile-anders-behring-breivik.

21     “. . . change the system democratically”  Breivik, “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” 1396.

21     had been issuing dire warnings  “In the county council election campaigns in 1987, [Progress Party leader Carl I.] Hagen brandished a letter signed by ‘Mohamad Mustafa’. This letter predicted that one day, mosques would be as common as churches in Norway, Islam would prevail, and Norway would become a Muslim country. Subsequently, the letter turned out to be a fake.” Hagen quoted in Katrine Fangen, “Why Did Muslims Become the New Enemy in Norway and Europe?” Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), July 9, 2021,www.prio.org/comments/755. The Progress Party’s message continued to blare. In 2009, for example, Siv Jensen, then the party leader, said at a party conference, “The reality is that a kind of sneak-Islamisation of this society is being allowed . . . We are going to have to stop this.” Jensen quoted in Thomas Buch-Andersen, “Islam a Political Target in Norway,” BBC News, April 20, 2009,news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8008364.stm.

21     “If anyone in [the Progress Party] has opinions . . .”  Per Arne Olsen quoted in Carine Louise Nilsen, “If Anyone in Frp Has Opinions in Line with Behring Breivik, They Will Be Excluded,” Tonsbergs Blad, July 25, 2011,www.tb.no/nyheter/nyheter/hvis-noen-i-frp-har-meninger-i-trad-med-behring-breivik-vil-de-bli-ekskludert/s/2-2.516-1.6382601, via Google Translate.

21     walked to another car. Breivik drove  “Anders Behring Breivik: The Indictment,”www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/16/anders-behring-breivik-indictment; and “Timeline: How Norway’s Terror Attacks Unfolded,” BBC News, last updated April 17, 2012,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14260297.

21     holding a summer camp for more than five hundred youths  “Anders Behring Breivik: The Indictment,”www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/16/anders-behring-breivik-indictment.

21     gained access to the campgrounds under the ruse  Agence France-Presse, “Witnesses Recall Killer’s Ruse to Get to Utøya,” The Local.no, May 3, 2012,www.thelocal.no/20120503/witnesses-describe-breiviks-ruse-to-get-to-utoeya.

21     with a semiautomatic rifle and a pistol, sending everyone scurrying  “Anders Behring Breivik: The Indictment,”www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/16/anders-behring-breivik-indictment.

21     keeping up his cover as a police officer  “Breivik Describes Hunting Down Panicked Teens,” CBS News, April 20, 2012,www.cbsnews.com/news/breivik-describes-hunting-down-panicked-teens/.

21     swimming or boating away from the island  “Anders Behring Breivik: The Indictment,”www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/16/anders-behring-breivik-indictment; “Timeline: How Norway’s Terror Attacks Unfolded,”www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14260297; Emma Martinovic, “Norway Attacks: A Survivor’s Account of the Utøya Massacre,” The Guardian, July 27, 2011,www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/27/norway-attacks-survivor-utoya-massacre; and Jim Taylor, “Survivors of Breivik Attacks Return to Utoeya Island,” BBC News, August 24, 2012,www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-19070150.

21     “You will die today Marxists” Anders Breivik court testimony, April 20, 2012, quoted in “Breivik Describes Hunting Down Panicked Teens,” CBS News,www.cbsnews.com/news/breivik-describes-hunting-down-panicked-teens/.

21     Breivik’s motive  Raf Sanchez, “Norway Killings: Anders Behring Breivik Warns of ‘More Cells,’” The Telegraph, July 25, 2011,www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/8659503/Norway-killings-Anders-Behring-Breivik-warns-of-more-cells.html.

21–22 planned to assassinate  Associated Press, “Anders Breivik Details Norway Massacre Plans, Cites Al-Qaeda Inspiration,” Washington Post, April 20, 2012,wapo.st/3T7tLA2.

22    an hour to arrive at the island. They arrested Breivik without incident  “Anders Behring Breivik: The Indictment,”www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/16/anders-behring-breivik-indictment; and “Timeline: How Norway’s Terror Attacks Unfolded,”www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14260297.

22    murdered sixty-nine people and injured sixty-six more . . . to seventy-seven  “Anders Behring Breivik: The Indictment,”www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/16/anders-behring-breivik-indictment; “The Terror Attack: Experience and Reactions among Utøya Survivors,” Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, accessed July 11, 2025,www.nkvts.no/english/project/the-terror-attack-experience-and-reactions-among-utoya-survivors/.

22    fifty-five were younger than nineteen  Jonathan Williamson, “A Decade Has Passed Since the Horrific July 22 Terrorist Attacks in Norway: May We Never Forget,” Norway Today, July 21, 2021,norwaytoday.info/news/a-decade-has-passed-since-the-horrific-july-22-terrorist-attacks-in-norway-may-we-never-forget/.

22    majority of the victims were White While the majority of the victims were White Norwegians, “at least some were immigrants or their descendants” and “at least nine of the victims were people of colour.” “Norway Victims Show Diversity Suspect Despised,” CBS News, July 26, 2011,https://www.cbsnews.com/news/norway-victims-show-diversity-suspect-despised; and Felice Blake, “Opinion: Black in Norway,” Al Jazeera, August 31, 2011,www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/8/31/black-in-norway.

22    deadliest attack in Norway since the Nazi occupation  CNN Editorial Research, “Norway Terror Attacks Fast Facts,” CNN, last updated July 10, 2024, accessed July 11, 2025,www.cnn.com/2013/09/26/europe/norway-terror-attacks; and “Norway,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, October 25, 2021,encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/norway.

22    with terrorism and murder . . . convicted and incarcerated Cora Engelbrecht and Henrik Pryser Libell, “Anders Behring Breivik, Killer in 2011 Norway Massacre, Is Denied Parole,” New York Times, February 1, 2022,www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/world/europe/anders-behring-breivik-norway-parole.html.

22    “Stop your genocide against our white nations” Brievik sign quoted in Engelbrecht and Libell, “Anders Behring Breivik, Killer in 2011 Norway Massacre, Is Denied Parole,”www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/world/europe/anders-behring-breivik-norway-parole.html.