Terrorist attack in Oslo

[Asmodean]

Oh, I think bloody murder would be my first response to my kid being killed too... But as the days went by, I'm sure I'd start evaluating my tragedy from different angles and settle on trusting the legal system to do its job.

I'm also impressed with those family members who sit there in the court room, not ten meters from the accused while the circumstances surrounding their kids' and siblings' deaths are being laid out... It must take a lot of strength, seeing all the pieces of the puzzle brought together, seeing the accused appear less-than-caring and not to mention tearing up something that probably hasn't even started to heal yet. Still, those who let themselves be interviewed after did not appear vengeful or hateful, even though they had every reason to be.

[Ali]

Oh, I think bloody murder would be my first response to my kid being killed too... But as the days went by, I'm sure I'd start evaluating my tragedy from different angles and settle on trusting the legal system to do its job.

I'm also impressed with those family members who sit there in the court room, not ten meters from the accused while the circumstances surrounding their kids' and siblings' deaths are being laid out... It must take a lot of strength, seeing all the pieces of the puzzle brought together, seeing the accused appear less-than-caring and not to mention tearing up something that probably hasn't even started to heal yet. Still, those who let themselves be interviewed after did not appear vengeful or hateful, even though they had every reason to be.

Yes.  I can't imagine.  I hope that when this is all over, they will be able to get some sort of closure from having heard all of the awful details and seen Anders sentenced, but I can't imagine the pain of sitting there and listening to it all.

[DeterminedJuliet]

I also think it is a testament to the quality of our justice system, that even in a case like this, everyone's rights are protected in the best way possible - even Breiviks. Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way because, despite the tragedy of it all, I like what this whole mess and our dealing with it says about us as a society.

Totally agree.

[Asmodean]

12 new autopsy reports presented today. Not as many died from head and neck injuries as before, suggesting Breivik was aiming for the center of mass while outdoors.

Two of the kids was only fourteen. So much for Breivik's "I'm no child killer"  

EDIT: Being a rather sucky courtroom re-reporter, I did not notice that there were actually two fourteen year olds - a girl, Breiviks youngest victim, and a boy.

[DeterminedJuliet]

Thanks for the updates, Asmo. Keep 'em coming

[Asmodean]

I shall. Later, I am also going to cross-compile some data for the best possible picture of what happened.

[Asmodean]

One of the local boat owners explains how he and several other civilians picked up the youths who tried to swim to land and assisted the police, who had trouble with their less powerful boat, in getting to the island. Several boat owners also picked up people from the island itself, risking their own lives in the process as the boats got shot at.

The job mr. Hansen and other boat owners did out there probably saved many lives that day.

Civilian boat owners also assisted the police in locating the dead in the water and fishing up clothing.

"Later that evening, Hansen saw 7-8 bodies at Storøya. Before returning home, he took one more round of the island and saw more bodies.

"Those on the Southern end disturbed us a lot. Because we have seen them earlier and they were waving us in," Hansen says." -from media coverage

Yeah... I'd lose sleep over that for a long time too, I think.

The defendant comments on Hansen's testimony:

"He says he has observed that some people tried to pick up the political extremists from the indoctrination camp. But I shot to scare. I could have hit if I so wanted. But those were warning shots, says Breivik" -from media coverage. Direct translation

[Asmodean]

Most of today's feed from Aftenposten. This post contains a summary of witness testimony, some of which can be frightening and/or depressing.

A new witness is giving his testimony now.

"We congregated deep in the tent camp while we heard the shots fired. I was hoping it was nothing serious"

"While we stood there, Breivik crested the island. I saw him shoot a person in close quarters with his handgun"

It hapened on a gravel path 75 meters from the witness

-Direct translation from media coverage.

The witness now talks about the road back to normal life. How he was worried that Norway would be changed by this attack, but after oming back (He lives in England) those concerns grew less. He also appreciates the professional help he was provided with.

"It was completely unreal. Even though I've seen a person get shot, understanding what was happening took a while"

"We went north by Kjærlighetsstien. I and another person asked people to lay low and remove highly visible clothing. We understood that it could mean the difference between life and death"

"We moved towards the pump station. By a steep slope, there sat a young boy. He looked completely lost. We picked him up andmy buddy took care of him"

They saw a darkly clad figure standing in the woods. They wanted to find out who it was, but decided against it.

"We werre terrified"

"We were conscious of not walking into a trap. At one point we had to leave the trail because many people were shot there"

"I saw a cell phone ringing by one of the girls. That's one of the things that made the strongest impression"

-from media coverage

The group tried to get close to the water. They saw boats moving about and blue lights flashing landside, but not knowing what was going on, they did not know whether there was safety there.

They heard Breivik come up from behind. He presented himself as a police officer and told them that they were safe.

"But as I turned around, I saw him raise his rifle. I threw myself in the water and started sinking as I was wearing a wool sweater, but I managed to take it off"

"It seemed like he was aiming at me and all hope was gone. An unimaginable feeling. I thought I was done for"

There was blood in the water. Several people got shot where the vitness was standing. There he was, sitting part in the water, with the two young kids beside him.

"After some time of not hearing shots, we moved to land to warm ourselves up"

"As we sat there, a police officer came through the forest. We did not know if he was real. We were on our way back in the water, but he clearly signaled that he would not fire. He said "the lunatic" was captured"

***

On the mainland, it looked like a scene from a disaster movie. People were in panic, some lay on the trolleys(US: gurneys). There were ambulances everywhere.

***

"The first day was terrible. Seeing polie officers after that is still quite scary. Before it happened, I trusted the police, but that trust was abused by Breivik"

-from media. I left out some things that were said where the *** symbols appear.

[Guardian85]

Hold on to your butts! Here we go.

A norwegian priest and abortion protester has gone public claiming that the attack of July 22. was a result of the governments liberal abortion policy.
http://www.vl.no/samfunn/ludvig-nessa-22-juli-skyldtes-norsk-abortpolitikk/

Abortion priest Ludvig Nessa has "excomunicated" the government building a number of times and believes the terrorist bomb may have been a consequence of the Norwegian abortion policy.

Nessa and his supporters organize 13 June each year a funeral march on the anniversary of the decision to allow abortion in Norway. A staple, which also took place last year, is a type of excommunication of the government building. Now believe abortion priest that Norwegian policy on abortion can "have released forces" that caused the terror 22 July, writes Dagen.

(Google Translate)

[Asmodean]

Does he have a website on which The Asmo can insult him? 

[DeterminedJuliet]

Does he have a website on which The Asmo can insult him? 

Yes, give him one of your patented nasty Asmo bites.

[Asmodean]

In my coverage of this case for HAF, I have rummaged through quite a lot of media - videos, newspaper articles, courtroom direct reports...

And having read the interviews with friends and parents of the dead, the few survivors who would let the media talk to them and the in memoriam sites, I must say that some asshole trying to make this about the size of his dick and the righteousness of his agenda comes very close to pissing me the fuck off... And that does take some doing.

[Guardian85]

Does he have a website on which The Asmo can insult him?  

http:#//#www.abort.no#/index.php

Go get'em, boy!





EDIT: Disabled link (take out the 3 # marks to use it) don't want to be giving this arsehole any Google search hits - Tank

[Asmodean]

This is my general message to assholes like that Ludvig Nessa:

This case, it is not about YOU. It is about her

and him

and tens of others like them, who were killed in Oslo and at Utøya by someone claiming to serve his country and your god.

It's about those who loved them and cared about them, who now have to live with this loss. It's about those who survived, and the scars most of them will carry for the rest of their lives. It is about the strength, love and caring shown after the fact by the entire nation, and yes, it is about justice - not some bullshit divine kind, but our own system, the one that so far has shown that when it really matters, we can be proud of it.

Political extremism, perhaps mixed with a good dose of insanity, is what "released the forces that caused the terror", and in stead of being a dick about it and making a complete ass out of yourself, not to mention demeaning your already srewed up agenda, you should go do what any half-decent human being would: put your flower alongside the others and work to preserve those core ideals all those people lived, worked and died for.

I'm not registering at his stupid site just to be banneed in five seconds, nor am I sending him an e-mail just so he can trashcan it without reading. Let this here open letter stand as the testimony of my point of view to whomever finds it interesting.

[Buddy]

This is my general message to assholes like that Ludvig Nessa:

This case, it is not about YOU. It is about her

and him

and tens of others like them, who were killed in Oslo and at Utøya by someone claiming to serve his country and your god.

It's about those who loved them and cared about them, who now have to live with this loss. It's about those who survived, and the scars most of them will carry for the rest of their lives. It is about the strength, love and caring shown after the fact by the entire nation, and yes, it is about justice - not some bullshit divine kind, but our own system, the one that so far has shown that when it really matters, we can be proud of it.

Political extremism, perhaps mixed with a good dose of insanity, is what "released the forces that caused the terror", and in stead of being a dick about it and making a complete ass out of yourself, not to mention demeaning your already srewed up agenda, you should go do what any half-decent human being would: put your flower alongside the others and work to preserve those core ideals all those people lived, worked and died for.

I'm not registering at his stupid site just to be banneed in five seconds, nor am I sending him an e-mail just so he can trashcan it without reading. Let this here open letter stand as the testimony of my point of view to whomever finds it interesting.

This deserves an award.