Re: Norway police seek delay to Pride events after queer paedophile bar shooting

[Governor Swill]

In article <rsauja$28c8$2...@neodome.net>
<governo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

Norwegian police said on Monday all Pride events across the
country should be delayed, citing security concerns after a
deadly weekend rampage by a gunman at a gay bar in Oslo.

Police had initially approved a planned gathering outside Oslo
Town Hall on Monday by the city’s LGBTQ community to honor the
victims of the attack.

But they later advised organizers to cancel the event, which was
expected to draw a large gathering. Norway raised its terrorism
threat assessment to its highest level after Saturday’s attack,
which left two dead and 21 wounded.

Police also urged Pride events nationwide to be canceled, citing
information from Norway’s police intelligence service, PST,
without giving details.

Pride events should be delayed “until further notice,” since the
queer community is considered part of the “enemy” by extremist
Islamists, National Police Chief Benedicte Bjoernland said in a
statement.

Oslo Pride, one of the backers of Monday’s demonstration and the
organizer of annual Pride celebrations that had been due to take
place on Saturday, confirmed it would cancel the gathering.

“We are sorry that once again we have to say that a Pride event
must be canceled,” it said in a statement. “It is wrong, as the
police claim, that this was meant to be a small event. We
understand that people are now frustrated and still want to
gather.”

Detention
Oslo’s district court on Monday named the suspect in the attack
as Zaniar Matapour, a 43-year-old Norwegian citizen of Iranian
origin.

Police described him as a radicalized Islamist with a history of
mental illness.

The court ruled that Matapour could be detained for up to four
weeks — a period that can be extended — during the investigation
into the mass shooting. He will undergo a psychiatric evaluation
as part of that, police said.

He was apprehended by passersby who chased him down the street.
Police arrived at the scene five minutes after receiving the
first emergency calls and took him into custody.

Intelligence services said they knew of Matapour since 2015 and
that he had been part of a network of Islamist extremists in
Norway.

“Around 2015 we were worried about this person,” Roger Berg,
acting head of PST, told private broadcaster TV2 on Saturday.

“We have followed him, to a degree. In more recent times, he was
not one of the people we were the most worried about.”

His lawyer, John Christian Elden, did not respond to a Reuters
request for comment.

He told TV2 it was not possible to draw any conclusions about
the motives or reasons for the attack. “It is far too early to
do so,” he said.

Matapour is accused of murder, attempted murder and terrorism.
His response to the accusations is not known.

He moved to Norway as a child with his parents, became a father
and for several years lived mainly off benefits, tabloid VG
reported.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/norway-police-seek-
delay-pride-events-gay-bar-shooting-rcna35696