OSLO — In the minutely detailed diary he began compiling May 1, Anders Behring Breivik comes across as obsessive, anxious and narcissistic. Meticulously recording his actions, he describes how he assembled the explosives he would use to set off a car bomb in Oslo and how he prepared for the shooting spree he would then launch on the island of Utoya.
For 82 days, he wrote it all down.
Norway held a moment of silence this morning for the 93 people killed at a camp full of young people and in an explosion in Oslo. (July 25)
The man blamed for attacks on Norway's government headquarters and a youth retreat that left at least 93 dead said he was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in Norwegian society, his lawyer said Sunday. (July 24)
Is his account accurate? In places, almost certainly not. But overall, it provides a largely plausible picture of the mundane details Breivik attended to as he readied for mass murder.
A shocked and grieving nation remained fixated on the news Sunday. The royal family attended an emotional memorial service at the national cathedral.
“Every one of those gone is a tragedy,” Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told the congregation. “Together it counts as a national disaster.”
As sobs erupted in the church, Stoltenberg appeared to be close to crying as he spoke of friends who were killed at Utoya. On Sunday night, a sea of flowers, candles and small Norwegian flags covered the plaza outside the cathedral, while a silent crowd kept watch.
Breivik, a 32-year-old who contends he is waging a Christian crusade against multiculturalism in Europe, believes the killings were “gruesome” but “necessary,” said his attorney, Geir Lippestad. Breivik has acknowledged that he carried out the attacks, his attorney said, but he denies criminal responsibility. Police officials said Sunday that Breivik told them he acted without an accomplice.
His diary is part of a 1,500-page manifesto that Breivik admits posting on the Internet, Lippestad says. Part history, part commentary, part how-to manual, it lays out his loathing of Islam and his determination to preserve a Christian Europe. It is written in English, a language Scandinavians often turn to when trying to reach the broadest possible audience. The Norwegian newspaper VG has reported that sections of it were lifted from the manifesto of Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber.
As of Sunday evening, Breivik’s one-man revolution had left 93 dead and 96 injured, with four still missing. Divers continued to search the waters around the island for bodies.
A judge ruled Monday that Breivik will be held in isolation for four weeks because he might tamper with evidence and claims there are “two more cells in our organization,” the Associated Press reported. Although he has acknowledged the bombing and shooting, he pleaded not guilty and told the court was trying to save Europe from Islam, news services said.
Careful planning
Breivik writes in his manifesto about the period before he began his diary. He says that he had been preparing for the attacks for years — and that he was determined to err on the side of killing too many people rather than too few.
In April, he began his preparations in earnest. He rented a farm in the village of Aasta, in the Hedmark region of Norway, from a man who was going to prison for growing marijuana. His stated intention was to grow sugar beets, because he had learned that they require a large amount of fertilizer — which he planned to use to make bombs.
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