Anders Behring Breivik biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Breivik was born on Feburary 13, 1979, to Jen Breivik, an economist at the Norwegian embassy in London, and Wenche Behring, a nurse. Breivik's parents split when he was a year old, and Behring moved back to Norway, taking her young son with her. Breivik has two half-brothers and one half-sister from his father, and one half-sister from his mother. He grew up with his mother on Oslo's affluent West End, and visited his father, who had been transferred to Paris, in the summers. When he was 15, he had a falling out with his father, and the two have cut off contact since.

Breivik attended Hartvig Nissen High School and Oslo Commerce School, and took online course in small business management.

Police believe Breivik planned his actions years in advance. He visited Prague in the fall of 2009, hoping to buy weapons in the Czech capital, which has some of the least stringent gun control laws in Europe. Breivik was unable to stock up weapons like he had planned, but continued to plot hit attacks when he returned to Norway.

In June or July 2011, Breivik moved to the small rural town of Rena about 86 miles northeast of Oslo. He started a farming business under the name Breivik Geofarm. In May 2011, Breivik Geofarm purchased six tons of fertilizer. It was later discovered that the bomb that exploded in the July 2011 Oslo attacks was made of a mix of fuel and fertilizer, reminiscent of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Attack on Oslo

On July 22, 2011, a bomb exploded in a car outside the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Regjeringskvartalet in central Oslo. The powerful blast killed eight people and injured hundreds. The explosion in the small, and usually peaceful, nation came as a shock to people around the world.

As news of the blast spread, Anders Behring Breivik boarded a ferry to the island of Utoya, 25 miles northwest of Oslo. Breivik was armed, and dressed in a police uniform. Utoya was the location of a political youth summer cap organized by the Norwegian Labor Party. Breivik went on a deadly shooting spree at the camp, killing 69 people, mostly teens.

Police arrested Breivik when they reached Utoya an hour and a half after he commenced his murderous rampage. Breivik admitted to the killings while he was being held in police custody.

Hours before the attacks, Breivik e-mailed a 1,500-page manifesto to 5,700 people, titled 2083 - A European Declaration of Independence. In the document Breivik attacks multiculturalism and the "threat" of Muslim immigration to Norway, as well as Marxism and the Norwegian Labor Party. Breivik copied large sections of the Unabomber manifesto. Breivik writes that he is a "savior of Christianity," and claims to be part of an order called the "Knight's Templar." Breivik was active on anti-Muslim websites.