The Oslo Cathedral held a memorial service honoring victims of a mass shooting in Oslo on Saturday that left two dead and 21 wounded in what authorities deemed an “act of Islamic terrorism.”
A 42-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder, and terrorist acts after shots rang out in clubs around the city. One of the targeted locations, London Pub, was a popular LGBTQ+ venue. The shootings took place the same day Oslo’s Pride Parade was scheduled and eventually canceled.
As civilians gathered in the city streets, thousands mourned, waved rainbow flags, shed tears, and laid flowers where the shootings had taken place.
“During the day, the city was full of people who wanted to speak out, about sorrow and anger, but also about support and solidarity and the will to continue on fighting, for the right of every individual to live a free life, a safe life,” said Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.
The head of the Norwegian Protestant Church, Olav Fykse Tveit, also mourned for the victims and expressed that although the Church has had a history of opposing equal rights for homosexual couples, “we can learn, sometimes in spite of ourselves, that diversity is a present, a richness, and that many homosexuals have a capacity for love that we are incapable of.”
Although the parade may have been canceled, feelings of pride, love, but also frustration have not dispersed. And not just in Norway either. Many leaders around the world have taken it to the press, along with social media and voiced their thoughts of disappointment, horror, and sympathy.
People across the globe also show compassion and empathy, with determined protesters marching in the streets chanting “We’re here, we’re queer, we won’t disappear!”
The shooting suspect possibly responsible for all the chaos was identified as a Norwegian man of Iranian descent with a history of mental illness. Authorities say that he was known to be a ‘suspected radicalized Islamist’ to Security Services since 2015 and was even questioned in May but wasn’t suspected to be a threat.
Although the attacker, including his lawyer, haven’t made any clear statements regarding the motives behind the shooting, police say it’s feasible to think it may be a hate crime, whether to target Pride or if there were other underlying reasons.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61941172
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61933817
A 42-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder, and terrorist acts after shots rang out in clubs around the city. One of the targeted locations, London Pub, was a popular LGBTQ+ venue. The shootings took place the same day Oslo’s Pride Parade was scheduled and eventually canceled.
As civilians gathered in the city streets, thousands mourned, waved rainbow flags, shed tears, and laid flowers where the shootings had taken place.
“During the day, the city was full of people who wanted to speak out, about sorrow and anger, but also about support and solidarity and the will to continue on fighting, for the right of every individual to live a free life, a safe life,” said Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.
The head of the Norwegian Protestant Church, Olav Fykse Tveit, also mourned for the victims and expressed that although the Church has had a history of opposing equal rights for homosexual couples, “we can learn, sometimes in spite of ourselves, that diversity is a present, a richness, and that many homosexuals have a capacity for love that we are incapable of.”
Although the parade may have been canceled, feelings of pride, love, but also frustration have not dispersed. And not just in Norway either. Many leaders around the world have taken it to the press, along with social media and voiced their thoughts of disappointment, horror, and sympathy.
People across the globe also show compassion and empathy, with determined protesters marching in the streets chanting “We’re here, we’re queer, we won’t disappear!”
The shooting suspect possibly responsible for all the chaos was identified as a Norwegian man of Iranian descent with a history of mental illness. Authorities say that he was known to be a ‘suspected radicalized Islamist’ to Security Services since 2015 and was even questioned in May but wasn’t suspected to be a threat.
Although the attacker, including his lawyer, haven’t made any clear statements regarding the motives behind the shooting, police say it’s feasible to think it may be a hate crime, whether to target Pride or if there were other underlying reasons.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61941172
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61933817
