The queer scene wants to celebrate the first big Pride parade in Oslo since the beginning of the pandemic. Then shots are fired. Two people are dead, many injured. The Norwegian secret service assumes Islamist terror.
It should have been the start of a boisterous party weekend – but fatal shots by a suspected Islamist have turned a popular gay bar in Oslo into a place of terror.
In the center of the Norwegian capital, the attacker shot dead two men on Saturday night. At least 21 others were injured, according to the police, ten of them seriously. The PST secret service classified the attack as an Islamist terrorist attack and raised the terror alert level to the highest level.
The attacker, whom the police arrested that night with the help of civilians, is said to be a Norwegian with Iranian roots. Two weapons – a pistol and an assault rifle – were confiscated. Police inspector Tore Soldal said in the morning that hate crimes are a strong possibility. Investigator Christian Hatlo told the Norwegian newspaper “VG” that the 42-year-old had previously committed a criminal offense and had become radicalized. During the night, the police searched his home.
The nightclub “London Pub” – the main target of the attacks – is considered a popular meeting place for gays, lesbians and other members of the queer scene in Oslo. On its own website, the club describes itself as the city’s best “gay bar” and “gay headquarters since 1979”. Actually, many wanted to celebrate there into the weekend: On Saturday, after cancellations due to the corona pandemic, a “Pride Parade” should have taken place in Oslo for the first time – it was canceled again.
Shots are fired in several places
The gay bar wasn’t the only crime scene, however. Shots were also fired in other places on the party mile in the early hours of Saturday.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre assured the queer community: “We stand by your side.” He also said in front of journalists in the afternoon “When the attacker started shooting, everything turned from joy, laughter and love to hate, bullets and murder.” Once again the country has been hit by a brutal attack on innocent people. Norway is actually considered a peaceful country. But the right-wing terrorist attack on the island of Utøya eleven years ago, which killed 77 people, left a deep wound in this sense of security.
Attack triggers horror
The renewed violence sparked horror in Norway and beyond. King Harald V (85) called on his countrymen to stand together. It is important to uphold common values such as freedom, diversity and respect for one another so that everyone can feel safe. Former Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg has said the freedom to love whoever you like has been attacked. The lesbian and gay association in Germany called for a solidarity rally at the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday evening.
The organizers of Oslo’s “Pride Parade”, who actually wanted to celebrate their 40th parade on Saturday, canceled the entire event on the advice of the police. “We will soon be proud and visible again,” said “Pride” boss Kristin Haugsevje. But now you want to stop and send love and good wishes to the relatives of the victims. However, in the afternoon, according to NRK, a few thousand gathered and paraded through the streets of Oslo, where the parade should have taken place.
Oslo Mayor Marianne Borgen only reported on Friday evening how much the city was looking forward to the parade after years of the pandemic. Rain bean flags still lined the whole of Oslo on Saturday – not only restaurants and bars, but also embassies and official buildings. On the eve of the planned spectacle, there had already been celebrations in many places in the city late into the night. Even just before midnight it was not quite dark on the June night.
Panic and despair at the crime scene
After the first shots were fired, the exuberant mood around the “London Pub” turned to panic and despair, as reported by an NRK journalist who was at the scene. He saw the dead on the street and emergency services trying to take care of the injured as quickly as possible.
Jonas Nilsen Sripilom, who actually wanted to come to the “London Pub” but then went to another party, could hardly believe when he heard about the attacks. “Not in our Oslo.” The act shows that the Pride parade still has a reason, Sripilom told the broadcaster NRK. “It’s not just about having fun and adorning yourself with glitter and colour. We march because we are hated. The fight isn’t over yet.”
Source: Stern
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