Norway mass killer Anders Behring Breivik studied al Qaeda, Oklahoma City bombing before rampage

Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik walks to take his seat in the witness box at the central court in Oslo, Norway, April 20, 2012. / AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 8:01 a.m. ET

(AP) OSLO, Norway - Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik took to the Internet to learn how to carry out a bombing-and-shooting rampage, studying attacks by al Qaeda, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

On Friday, the fifth day of his trial, the confessed mass killer told a Norwegian court he paid close attention in particular to the World Trade Center bombing in New York and McVeigh's 1995 attack on an Oklahoma City government building, which killed 168 people and injured over 600.

Breivik also said he had read more than 600 bomb-making guides.

He called the Islamist group "the most successful revolutionary movement in the world" and said it should serve as an inspiration to far-right militants, even though their goals are different.

"I have studied each one of their actions, what they have done wrong, what they have done right," Breivik said of al Qaeda. "We want to create a European version of al Qaeda."

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Breivik has admitted to the July 22 attacks that killed 77 people in Norway, but pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, saying his victims had betrayed Norway by embracing immigration.

His lack of remorse and matter-of-fact description of weapons and tactics during his testimony have deeply disturbed families of the victims, most of whom were teenagers.

The 33-year-old Norwegian said he was deliberately using "technical" language as a way to keep his composure.

"These are gruesome acts, barbaric acts," he said. "If I had tried to use a more normal language I don't think I would have been able to talk about it at all."

A lawyer representing the bereaved, who are watching the proceedings in the Oslo court and in 17 other courtrooms in Norway, asked Breivik why he didn't show any empathy for his victims.

"I can choose to remove the mental shield, but I am choosing not to do it ... because I would not survive," he said.

Comparing himself to a Japanese "banzai" warrior during World War II, Breivik said too many Norwegian men were "feminized, cooking food and showing emotions."

The victims' lawyer noted that he showed emotions on the first day of the trial, when he cried as prosecutors showed an anti-Muslim video he had created.

"I wasn't prepared for that film," Breivik said. "It's a film that represents the fight and everything I love."

Christin Bjelland, a spokeswoman for a massacre support group, said she was "quite upset" by Breivik's testimony.

"I'm going back to my hometown tonight and I live by the sea, so I have arranged with my husband, he's going to drive me out to the sea, and I'm going to take a walk there and I'm going to scream my head off," Bjelland told The Associated Press.

Breivik has admitted to the bombing in Oslo that killed eight people and the shooting massacre at the Labor Party youth camp that left 69 dead. He claims to belong to an alleged anti-Muslim "Knights Templar" network. Many groups claim part of that name, but prosecutors say they don't believe the group described by Breivik exists.

The main goal of the trial is to figure out whether Breivik was sane or insane — two official reports from experts have come to opposite conclusions on that point.

If declared sane, Breivik could face a maximum 21-year prison sentence or an alternate custody arrangement that would keep him locked up as long as he is considered a menace to society. If found insane, he would be committed to psychiatric care for as long as he's considered ill.

[AnnieDanny]

Yeah, if he "allowed" himself to think like a normal person he would not survive... in other words, he'd be suicidal. As he SHOULD be. He "allowed" himself to get into this mindset in the first place.

The Bible does say that we should be careful about what we think about, and I do believe society is VERY very careless about this. We watch violence all the time, in fact the amount of violence and violent perversion that is available as "entertainment" should shock us all if we're reasonable people. Not to mention real violence which the news media focuses on constantly. Yesterday I got overwhelmed by all the ugly, shocking, perverse things that I read on the news. (Nobody sees a connection here???)

We fill our minds with garbage. No wonder that weak stupid people like this Brevik lose their perspective and indulge in it. Now he's got to "justify" it somehow in his own mind: that what he did was necessary.

I'm very surprised that the Norwegian Court allows him to talk freely like this. It's his opportunity to brag, swagger, gloat and show off his stupid movies. I'll be glad when he's shut away and shut up.

[Mongol-General-Ogedei]

Give him a DNA" test to get him out this delusional state of mind...

He must know what his roots are 40 to 50 thousand years back...

Humans kill each other due to sickening ignorance about the true nature of things in time,life,and space...