From liberal roots to extremist massacre

Anders Behring Breivik grew up in a leafy, affluent neighbourhood in west Oslo, the capital of one of the world’s richest, most consensual and democratic countries. By his own admission the upbringing was liberal and carefree, and one of his best friends was a Pakistani.

“When he was young he was a normal boy, but introverted. He wasn’t interested in politics at the time,” his father, who divorced his mother in 1980, lost contact with his son and retired to France, told a local newspaper.

But at some point he became a radical conservative, willing to go on a murderous rampage to promote his view of a brewing war between a vanguard of “Knights Templar” and a complacent Europe ruled by treacherous “cultural Marxists”, multiculturalists and an aggressive tide of Islamic migrants.

An hour before a bomb, allegedly home-made by Mr Breivik, ripped through the heart of Oslo, he sent out 1,518 pages of meandering manifesto and YouTube video espousing his political views and detailing his operational planning, such as how to get credit card approvals and motivational music tips. In addition to chilling advice on how to procure weapons, build bombs and stay under the radar of police, the document, in English under the pseudonym Andrew Berwick, offers an insight into his transformation into a killer.

Despite his father’s protestations, by the time he was 16 he was known to harbour rightwing views, according to former school mates. “He was part of the ‘trenchcoat mafia’, five or six skinheads with combat boots and bomber jackets or trenchcoats,” said one who attended Ris school. “He was pretty extreme even then, and a loner.”

He joined the rightwing Progress party as a youth member, and was active for several years, but around 2002 he says he dropped out. In his manifesto he says this came after visiting a Serbian “crusader commander” in Monrovia, Liberia, and joining the PCCTS or Knights Templar, a group of vanguard “cultural conservatives” he says are planning attacks in Europe.

It is uncertain whether the details listed in the manifesto are true, but his diary shows how he managed to juggle a social and family life over nine years of writing, planning, weapons procurement and bomb-making without arousing suspicion.

Many of his friends and family were politically liberal, and he often talks about the irony. At one point he talks about his stepmother, who he “cares for ... a great deal” but says he would not mind if she was executed in an attack against the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, where she used to work.

While he often espouses Christian views in his manifesto, Mr Breivik sees himself as a “cultural Christian” as opposed to a strongly devout one, and several times mentions plans to celebrate the imminent completion of his operation with one or more high-class prostitutes – and a bottle of Chateau Kirwan 1979 saved up for special occasions.

Whether he went through with all his pre-rampage plans is unclear, but the last entry in his log reads: “I believe this will be my last entry. It is now Fri July 22nd, 12.51.”