As a survivor of the Anders Behring Breivik attack,I believe that such violent extremists can be steered on to the right course by people in their everyday livesA 21-year-outmoded man walked into a school in Trollhättan in western Sweden on Thursday. He was wearing a helmet, a Star Wars mask and wielded a sword. A teacher, and a pupil and the man with the sword were left dead after a rampage. Swedish police said that the suspect,named as Anton Lundin-Petersson, had “racist motives”.
In 2011 I came face to face with Anders Behring Breivik on Utøya island in Norway as he carried out his atrocious massacre. He pointed his gun and fired at me but missed. I survived and later testified against him in court. What we’re now seeing in Sweden resonates heavily with me. In moving on from the Breivik trauma, and since fitting involved in working against violent extremism,I have advance to understand violent extremists as individuals capable of change.
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Source: theguardian.com