Norway police say UK crime technician aids probe

Reporting from Oslo — Norwegians have always taken pride in their open, trusting society.

It's a country where you might encounter the prime minister at the grocery store and offer a hug. Many police don't carry guns and most government buildings are unprotected. Homicide is rare, with only a handful of gun-related deaths a year.

But as Otto Lovik stood Sunday on a muddy lakeshore overlooking Utoya Island and recalled how he rescued about 60 people fleeing Friday's massacre by a gunman, the 56-year-old prison guard, still shaking from the experience, said his country must change.

Norwegian police said Sunday that a British police expert was aiding a probe of attacks that killed at least 93 people as part of cooperation with foreign forces.

"We have received help from the Metropolitan police in London by a criminal technician expert," acting police chief Sveinung Sponheim told a news conference. He said that Norwegian police were also sending out information via Interpol.

Sponheim also said that a police officer had been due to be on the island where the gunman massacred at least 86 people. It took about an hour for police to arrive.

"There was supposed to be a police officer there," he said, adding that it was unclear where he was.

Excerpts from Norway gunman's manifesto

1,500 page manifesto credited to Anders Behring Breivik, accused of killing spree, lays out worldview including extreme screed of Islamophobia, far-right Zionism, and venomous attacks on Marxism and multiculturalism.

Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian who killed nearly 100 people in a combined terror attack Friday that included car bombings in Oslo and a shooting rampage at an island summer camp, held fiercely anti-Islamic and pro-Israel views, according to a 1,500 page manifesto he uploaded before his killing spree Friday.

In the 1,500 page tome, which mentions Israel 359 times and “Jews” 324 times, Breivik lays out his worldview, which includes an extreme, bizarre, and rambling screed of Islamophobia, far-right Zionism, and venomous attacks on Marxism and multiculturalism.

Here are several brief excerpts that illustrate the nature of his writing and his obsessions as he carried out one of the worst crimes in Europe since World War II.

I have spent several years writing, researching and compiling the information and I have spent most of my hard earned funds in this process (in excess of 300 000 Euros). I do not want any compensation for it as it is a gift to you, as a fellow patriot."

Multi-culturalism (cultural Marxism/political correctness), as you might know, is the root cause of the ongoing Islamisation of Europe which has resulted in the ongoing Islamic colonisation of Europe through demographic warfare (facilitated by our own leaders)."

In order to successfully penetrate the cultural Marxist/multiculturalist media censorship we are forced to employ significantly more brutal and breath taking operations which will result in casualties. In order for the attack to gain an influential effect, assassinations and the use of weapons of mass destruction must be embraced."

The ideology that has taken over Western Europe goes most commonly by the name of "Political Correctness." Some people see it as a joke. It is not. It is deadly serious. It seeks to alter virtually all the rules, formal and informal, that govern relations among people and institutions. It wants to change behaviour, thought, even the words we use."

Christendom is gradually being deconstructed. It is time that the Pope and his cardinals begin to resist the deliberate deconstruction of European Christendom. The process would, however, be quite challenging, but worth the effort as all Justiciar Knights who dies for their faith will be a great source of inspiration for generations to come. They will be role models. Certain, exceptionally brave and selfless, Justiciar Knights in the coming decades should even be considered as candidates for official veneration.

Texas shooting victim pleads for attacker's life

Mark Stroman claims the murders were patriotic which may lead to his own upcoming death Wednesday, July 20, on Texas Death Row, according to the office of Attorney General Greg Abbott, a native of Wichita Falls.

The controversial story of Mark Stroman has led to much discussion in Wichita Falls, Texas, a stone's throw from the Oklahoma border.

The final outcome of this high profile death case could easily affect death penalty cases in Wichita Falls.

Stroman's ultimate earthly destiny may lie in the hands of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Stroman's attorneys filed a petition for clemency with that Board last week, hoping to avoid lethal injection next week.

While Stroman and his suppporters await word from the Board and Texas Governor Rick Perry, one of his shooting victims has spoken up for him publicly asking his life be spared.

This long and winding road for Stroman began when Osama Bin Laden unleashed his attack on September 11 against the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon.

Stroman's sister went to work in New York that fateful day never dreaming it would be her last morning on earth.

Infuriated by the death of his sister, Stroman embarked on a shooting spree which resulted in the deaths of a Pakistani man, an Indian immigrant and a Bangladeshi man.

Stroman termed his shooting of three people of Middle Eastern descent as a "patriotic" acts in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Death row inmate Mark Stroman was convicted of killing an Islamic man in the months after the September 11th attacks. Police say he also killed a second man and shot another, leaving him partially blind. All of the victims were from either India or Pakistan.

The now partially-blind survivor, Rais Bhuiyan, is trying to get Stroman's sentence reduced from death to life in prison.

"I believe if Mark is given a chance to live, he will become a spokesperson in raising awareness for hate crimes," Bhuiyan said. "September 11th did a horrible thing not just to America but to the world, this is a time we can take a new narrative of forgiveness, compassion, tolerance and healing."

Bhuiyan is suing Governor Rick Perry and other state officials in an effort to stop the execution. He says Perry has violated his rights as a crime victim by ignoring requests to meet with Stroman for mediation.

6 dead, 4 injured in Texas roller rink shooting

WASHINGTON — A gunman killed five people during a birthday party at a roller skating rink in Texas before turning the gun on himself, police said.

The shooting in the town of Grand Prairie occurred after a fight broke out at a birthday party, said a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The gunman killed five people and wounded four before shooting himself in the head, police said. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

No other details were given, but the official said the incident was under investigation.

"We're going to assist the family and anybody else who attended to help them overcome this terrible situation," police spokesman John Brimmer told local media.

The wounded were treated at nearby hospitals, officials said without elaborating.

Police say the shooter was one of the organizers of the party, which quickly got out of control when an argument erupted between two family members.

"There's just no cause for this," Aaron Feldt, a resident of Grand Prairie, told The Dallas Morning News newspaper, adding that children and adult were among the guests at the party.

The incident began when an unidentified man drew a gun during an argument at a birthday party at the rink. He opened fire, shooting five people dead and wounding four others, and then shot himself, Brimmer said.

"This was a domestic situation that went south in a hurry." Brimmer told Reuters. "The shooting lasted only seconds."

Five police officers were on the scene within a minute, Brimmer said. The wounded were taken to a local hospital for treatment, although their condition was not immediately known.

A private family group had rented the entire skate rink for the evening to celebrate a child's birthday, Brimmer said. All the dead and wounded were teenagers and adults attending the gathering.

The police department has made crisis counselors available to treat victims and others who witnessed the shooting.

"There are going to be a lot of hurting families," Brimmer said.

"Thankfully we don't have things like this happen with any kind of regularity. We are a community of give or take 160,000 people and it's a great city and for something like this to happen is just horrible.