Anders Behring Breivik cried with joy at massacre

GlobalPost

The first survivor to testify against Anders Behring Breivik said the accused mass murderer cried out with joy as he shot and killed 69 young people on a Norwegian island last July 22, Agence-France Press reported.

Tonje Brenna, 24, helped organize a rally for the Labor Party’s youth wing on Utoya. She was on the phone speaking about a bomb that exploded earlier in Oslo when she heard several bangs.

Brenna told the courtroom she believed it was firecrackers, and went out to investigate the sick joke.

Instead, it was the 33-year-old right-wing extremist exacting revenge for what he says is Norway’s failed policy of multiculturalism and immigration.

“I am absolutely sure that I heard cries of joy,” Brenna said, AFP reported. “If I had to spell it out, it would be ‘woo-hoo.’ Obviously cries for joy.”

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Breivik admits to gunning down the 69 young people, many of them teens, and detonating a bomb that killed eight in Oslo.

He pleaded not guilty, though, and said he doesn’t recognize the court’s authority.

Earlier in the trial, a judge rejected Breivik’s request to question witnesses, BBC said.

Breivik even offered to drop his defense in exchange for the chance to speak to the survivors and those who helped them.

The court also heard from men who helped save the wounded, The Associated Press reported.

Oddvar Hansen heard reports of gunfire on the island, so he launched his boat in an effort to help, bringing his rifle.

He found two girls in the lake, and saw more waving for help from the island.

“We picked up another girl, and while we were pulling her into the boat a shot was fired, I saw the water spraying and there was panic aboard,” Hansen told court. “We pulled her into the boat. I hit the accelerator and turned around at full speed to increase the distance.”

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