Norwegian mass killer pins white supremacist messages to suit at parole hearing

A decade ago, the Norwegian mass killer was sentenced to 21 years in prison for a bombing in Oslo and an armed rampage on the island of Utøya.

Anders Behring Breivik, the right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in massacres in Norway in 2011, appeared before a parole hearing Tuesday, seemingly more focused on spreading white supremacist propaganda than gaining an improbable early release from prison.

A decade ago, the Norwegian mass killer was sentenced to 21 years in prison for a bombing in Oslo and an armed rampage on the island of Utøya. That term can be extended as long as the court decides Breivik is a danger to society.

But under Norwegian law, Breivik, 42, is eligible to seek parole after serving the first 10 years.

Breivik, sporting a stubble beard and a two-piece suit, walked into a prison gymnasium-turned-courtroom with white supremacist messages pinned to his blazer and his bag. He held up a sign with the same message.

As he did during his trial, he made Nazi salutes as he entered Tuesday. He also presented himself as the leader of a Norwegian neo-Nazi movement, suggesting he would use the parole hearing as an opportunity to disseminate his racist views rather than make an earnest attempt for an early release, which experts say is unlikely anyway.

Prosecutor Hulda Karlsdottir said that the hearing would focus on the danger Breivik, who legally changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen in 2017, still poses. The conditions of his imprisonment would be “completely subordinate,” she said.

“The main topic here is the danger associated with release,” she told the Telemark District Court.

Breivik listened motionless as she detailed the killings and named the victims. He once tried to comment on Karlsdottir’s description but was ordered not to interrupt her by Judge Dag Bjørvik.