PST’s counter-terrorism chief believes incidents such as the attack in Kongsberg will happen again. Now he is initiating a debate about the risk people must live with in an open society.
Five people were killed in Kongsberg on Wednesday, October 13.
“This type of attack performed by a person on impulse with simple means will happen again. In such cases, the outcome of the attack depends more on the police’s response time than on the degree to which one has managed to anticipate it. It is not possible to guarantee that you can stop it,” counter-terrorism chief Arne Christian Haugstøyl in the Police Security Service (PST) told the newspaper Aftenposten.
When the suspect Espen Andersen Bråthen released a threatening video in 2017, the PST notified the police. But Haugstøyl points out:
“Unfortunately, there are many people who make hateful and threatening statements. Every week we get information about an incredible number of videos, comments, photos, and posts that are rougher and more extreme than this video.”
When asked if the PST could have done something different to prevent what happened at Kongsberg, Haugstøyl responded:
“I will wait for the evaluation before I say anything about it. But I think it forces a discussion about the risk we must live with in a democratic and open society.”
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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