Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian accused of killing at least 93 people in a shooting-and-bombing rampage on Friday, appears to have been heavily influenced by a U.S.-based group of vocally anti-Islam bloggers. In the manifesto he posted online — in which he accuses Norwegian politicians of enabling an Islamic invasion — Breivik cites Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch 64 times, and frequently quotes Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs blog. Does Breivik's embrace of these bloggers' ideas implicate them in his massacre?
Yes. They had an "undeniable influence" on Breivik: Right-wing "'counter-jihad' keyboard warriors" like Geller and Spencer claim to be "shocked and outraged" that people are blaming them for this atrocity, says Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs. But really, "there's no doubt whatsoever that Anders Behring Breivik was seriously influenced" by the "vicious bile and hatred they spew" at Muslims. And judging by their guilt-riddled, sometimes-incoherent pushback, they know it, too.
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