To Prep, Breivik Studied al-Qaeda, Played Call of Duty

He also read more than 600 bomb-making guides
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 20, 2012 5:56 AM CDT
To Prep, Breivik Studied al-Qaeda, Played Call of Duty
Anders Behring Breivik, back to camera, looks across to his defence lawyers at the start of the 5th day of his trial today.   (AP Photo / Heiko Junge, NTB Scanpix)

Anders Behring Breivik "trained" for his shooting massacre by playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, studying al-Qaeda, and reading bomb-making guides. The best-selling military game let him practice his shot using a "holographic aiming device," much like the one he used when slaughtering 69 people at a youth camp last summer, Breivik explained yesterday. "You develop target acquisition," he said. The court also heard that Breivik spent a year between summer 2006 and 2007 devoting 16 hours a day to playing World of Warcraft, the Guardian reports. Breivik described the fantasy game as a "hobby" that isolated him from the world.

At the fifth day of his trial today, Breivik revealed that he had read more than 600 bomb-making guides, many on the Internet, and had closely studied the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He followed al-Qaeda closely, too, reports the AP, saying, "I have studied each one of their actions, what they have done wrong, what they have done right." He called the terror group "the most successful revolutionary movement in the world," and one that should inspire far-right militants. (More Anders Behring Breivik stories.)

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