Oslo terrorist Anders Behring Breivik appeared in Norwegian court Monday to face charges regarding the two-fold attack that occurred last Friday that left over 70 dead.
According to reports, Breivik admitted his guilt in the attack (which was a carefully organized bombing in one area and simultaneous shooting in another) and also presented a 1500-page manifesto entitled “2083 – A European Declaration of Independence.”
The manifesto, written under the pen name Andrew Berwick, is allegedly Breivik’s attempt to incite a revolution in peaceful Norway in order to punish “enablers of Islamization.” While police have not officially stated that Breivik was the author of the manifesto, Forbes reported that Breivik’s lawyer referenced it in court and claimed his client had been “working on it for years.”
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the lengthy manifesto was Breivik’s references to popular video games “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” and “World of Warcraft.” According to PCworld, Breivik claimed these games could be used as military training tools to help plan, organize and execute attacks. The manifesto, which was split into sections with titles such as “Marksmanship Training,” hailed “Modern Warfare 2” as “probably the best military simulator out there,” and the source of his “training simulation.”
The manifesto also offered a solution for anyone else who wished to incite riots or cause chaos without drawing unwanted attention: tell them you are playing “World of Warcraft.” The wildly popular MMO (massively multiplayer online) game, according to the manifesto,“can justify isolation… over long periods.”
“You will be amazed on how much you can do undetected while blaming this game,” the manifesto eerily states.
While Breivik’s alleged manifesto briefly discusses a handful of other popular video games, according to kotaku.com it only goes into detail when discussing the training tactics that can be used while playing “Modern Warfare 2” and the ability to plot and plan undetected by using “World of Warcraft.”
While most of the 1500 page manifesto does not include the aforementioned video games, it arrives on the tail of a recent California Supreme Court decision regarding violent video games. The Huffington Post reported last month that the court voted that states cannot ban the sale of violent videogames as it violates gamers’ First Amendment rights. Instead, the court stressed that it was parents’ responsibility to carefully select what games their children are allowed to play.
