Powerful act of defiance as thousands join LGBT march after attack in Oslo
two people were killed in a mass shooting outside a gay bar.The demonstrators defied requests from Norwegian police to cancel the event amid fears for a reprise attack.They held up signs saying ‘you can’t cancel us’ and ‘sexual freedom’ to remind the capital city that Pride is not a party but a protest.More than 20 people were wounded in the early hours of Saturday morning after a gunman opened fire in Oslo’s nightlife district, in what was described as an ‘Islamist terror act’.Witnesses said the attacker took out a gun from his bag and started firing at three venues.‘First I thought it was an air gun,’ journalist Olav Roenneberg said.To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video‘Then the glass of the bar next door was shattered and I understood I had to run for cover.’Zaniar Matapour was arrested minutes after the shooting and held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and terrorism.The 43-year-old Norwegian citizen, who is originally from Iran, has not offered any explanation to detectives.
Prosecutor Ingvild Myrold said they had ‘many hypotheses’ regarding a motive although police have unsuccessfully tried to question the suspect for three days.‘We take a closer look at his mental health, his political motives and background and possibly who else he may have had contact with before this happened,’ she told the Associated Press. ‘We do not exclude anything.
But now the accusation is about pure terror incident.’Tributes have poured in from people across Europe following the attack.Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner, tweeted in response: ‘This is why we still need Pride.
