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The man blamed for attacks on Norway’s government headquarters and a youth retreat said he was motivated by a desire to bring about a revolution in Norwegian society, his lawyer said Sunday.
Police and his lawyer have said that Anders Behring Breivik confessed to the twin attacks, but denied criminal responsibility for a day that shook peaceful Norway to its core and was the deadliest ever in peacetime.
“He wanted a change in society and, from his perspective, he needed to force through a revolution,” Geir Lippestad, his lawyer, told public broadcaster NRK. “He wished to attack society and the structure of society.”
British counter-terrorism police today also said that they were hunting for any Britons who may have been connected to Breivik, according to a new report from The Telegraph.
According to the report, Breivik apparently boated that he was just one of 80 “solo martyr cells” who were ready to follow his example.
PHOTOS: NORWAY MOURNS TWIN TERROR ATTACKS
The alleged mass murderer, 32, was a member of an online community of Nazis and right-wing fanatics who encouraged attacks on government buildings and railed against immigrants, a Swedish research group revealed yesterday.
Breivik joined “Nordisk” — a Swedish online group obsessed with violent hate speech — in 2009, according to Expo, a Swedish anti-extremist group formerly led by author Stieg Larsson.
Police believe the 6-foot tall, blond loner who lived with his mother in Oslo also made rambling racist comments on political Internet sites.
In one creepy video entitled “Knights Templar 2083 – Movie Trailer” — reportedly posted on YouTube just hours before the killing spree — Breivik poses in a wetsuit with a military-style firearm, as well as imagery of medieval Crusaders.
He then sets out a personal manifesto for a “conservative revolution” to rid Europe of Islam and Marxism.
Breivik was charged yesterday with two counts of terrorism for allegedly gunning down at least 85 teens on the island of Utoya and detonating a bomb in Oslo that killed seven others Friday. He will be arraigned on Monday.
“He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary,” Lippestad told independent TV2 news.
At least five teens who were at the popular camp during the massacre are still missing.
Officials plan to deploy a small submarine to search the waters around bucolic Utoya to locate any remaining bodies.
Police described the first attack, in downtown Oslo, as an “Oklahoma City-type” bombing using fertilizer and fuel. A farm-supply store alerted authorities earlier in the day that Breivik had bought six tons of fertilizer.
After the bombing, Breivik allegedly stormed Utoya Island dressed as a policeman and called young people toward him before shooting each. He fired on the innocent teens gathered at a camp for the nation’s ruling Labor Party for 1½ hours before surrendering.
A swat team was dispatched to Utoya 50 minutes after the first calls of shootings came in. It took another 40 minutes to locate Breivik because cops didn’t have access to a helicopter and couldn’t find a boat, officials said.
“I could hear his boots. I could feel the heat of the gun,” said survivor Adrian Pracon, 21, who was shot in the shoulder.
While some on the island reported that there was a second assailant in the youth-camp massacre and police said they were looking into that, Lippestad said his client claims to have acted alone.