Poland: the author of the Krakow massacre was interested in the neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Behring Breivik

The author of the Krakow massacre last week was interested in neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik, the Polish Minister of Justice said on Tuesday, November 10, estimating that several elements collected by investigators reinforced the hypothesis of far-right radicalization.

“The services have access to the terrorist’s computer. We can indeed see that he consulted sites relating to Anders Breivik,” declared Waldemar Zurek, adding that investigators had also found at the assailant’s home a so-called Gadsden flag, a historic American flag representing a rattlesnake on a yellow background, accompanied by the motto “Don’t Tread on Me”. This symbol is sometimes associated with certain American far-right movements.

On July 22, 2011, Breivik first detonated a bomb in a van near the government headquarters in Oslo, killing eight people, then shot and killed 69 other people, most of them teenagers, who were attending a Labor Youth summer camp on the island of Utøya.

Michal Oksinski's murderous spree cost the lives of a total of nine people, according to the toll established after the discovery of the bodies of his parents and his sister, found with gunshot wounds at their home two hours' drive from the scene of the shooting in Krakow. It was in this city, the former capital of Poland, that he, in military uniform, masked and helmeted, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, opened fire from his vehicle on passers-by on the large market square popular with tourists in the historic center. Six people, including a Briton and an Austrian, were killed in Krakow. Fifteen others, including five foreign nationals (British, Portuguese, Russian, German and Austrian) were injured.

The investigations also focus on the attacker's entourage and possible ideological links that may have influenced his actions, the minister said. Without excluding other avenues, notably that of psychological disorders, Mr. Zurek estimated that the various elements collected formed “very solid clues” and that the first statements by the authorities suggesting possible far-right radicalization now seemed to find confirmation in the evidence gathered by the investigators.

He also pointed out “a certain preparation” of the killer, emphasizing “that the possession of around ten magazines for a semi-automatic weapon and around 500 cartridges far exceeded the usual needs of a shooter attending a shooting range”. “We can clearly see that this individual was preparing to act,” he added. Expertise is also continuing on the weapons and ammunition used. Investigators are seeking in particular to determine whether the shooter had military-style ammunition or projectiles designed to cause more serious injuries, the minister said.