{"id":31,"date":"2025-08-13T21:27:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/?p=31"},"modified":"2025-08-16T01:12:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T00:12:22","slug":"the-attack-that-never-ended-tarjeis-fight-against-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalists.org.uk\/martine-arno\/2025\/08\/13\/the-attack-that-never-ended-tarjeis-fight-against-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"The attack that never ended: Tarjei\u2019s fight against hate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fourteen years after surviving Norway\u2019s deadliest terror attack, Tarjei Jensen Bech has stepped away from top political roles \u2014 not because his passion faded, but because the hatred that drove the attack never stopped. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 22 July 2011, a far-right terrorist <\/a>opened fire on the Labour Party youth summer camp on Ut\u00f8ya, killing 69 people. Nineteen-year-old Tarjei Jensen Bech ran through the forest, warning others, before being shot in the leg as he tried to escape into the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the months and years after, he was determined not to let the attacker win. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt showed how important politics is \u2014 many didn\u2019t get to continue because they were killed. Politics suddenly became a matter of life and death,\u201d Bech says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From bullets to inbox threats<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He rose through the Labour Party ranks, eventually serving as deputy county mayor in Troms and Finnmark. But even as he worked to strengthen democracy, the same ideology that tried to kill him kept finding its way into his inbox and onto his phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got emails saying \u2018too bad Breivik didn\u2019t shoot better,\u2019 texts telling me to \u2018watch around the corner\u2019 because someone would be there with a gun \u2014 that\u2019s the kind of messages I\u2019ve received for years,\u201d Bech says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“It feels like the thoughts Breivik had are still out there \u2014 and that they\u2019ve even spread.” – Tarjei Jensen Bech<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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SURVIVED<\/strong>: Tarjei Jensen Bech survived the 2011 Ut\u00f8ya massacre, but years of hate and threats eventually pushed him out of top political roles.Photo credit<\/strong>: Sunniva Gaski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The harassment intensified the more visible he became. \u201cWhen you get higher up, the hate increases,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even brief online comments like \u201cW Breivik\u201d \u2014 slang for \u201cwin Breivik\u201d \u2014 carried a chilling message: that the terrorist\u2019s ideology had not only survived but spread. \u201cIt feels like the thoughts Breivik had are still out there \u2014 and that they\u2019ve even spread.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From renewed determination to burnout<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Two years of targeted harassment eventually pushed him to step down. \u201cIt was exhausting to have my body in a constant state of alarm. Walking around afraid isn\u2019t living \u2014 it\u2019s surviving. And I realised I couldn\u2019t keep doing politics like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bech believes many fellow survivors have made the same calculation he did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome just can\u2019t face the harassment. They\u2019ve seen what happens to those of us who stayed. And for many, getting politically active again risks reopening the trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalls that the first years after the attack were calmer, but that over time extremist voices were \u201cinvited back into the debate,\u201d making the climate harsher. \u201cWhen you give those ideas legitimacy, you make it harder for people like us to stay,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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@tarjeijensenbech<\/a>

22. jul. Vi glemmer aldri\u2764\ufe0f\ud83c\udf39. #psykiskhelse<\/a> #ut\u00f8ya<\/a> #22juli2011<\/a> #trauma<\/a> #psyktviktig<\/a> #mentalhealthmatters<\/a><\/p> \u266c original sound – Tarjei Jensen Bech<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>