Philip Manshaus
|
Philip Manshaus (born August 29, 1997) is a 27-year-old Norwegian terrorist and white supremacist responsible for committing a mass shooting at the Al-Noor Islamic Centre in Bærum, Norway on August 10th, 2019, injuring one. He is also responsible for the murder of his 17-year old stepsister Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen prior to the attack. He is currently serving a 21-year prison sentence for the attack.
Background edit
Manshaus' neighbors have described him as ordinary, with one neighbor saying he had helped her with household tasks before, though another claimed he had not been very happy when he was young, with several neighbors also suggesting that a family bereavement a few years earlier had hit him quite hard, and that in the last year he had turned increasingly to religion and extremism. Norwegian police had stated the day after the attack that they were planning to give the suspect a mental health assessment. In the official questioning session, Manshaus declared that his goal was to intimidate Muslims in Norway.
Shortly before the attack, someone using the name Philip Manshaus was active on a web forum that has been variously reported as 4chan and 8chan, but was confirmed to be a copycat forum called EndChan. His retrieved messages include telling people that "it's my time, i was elected by saint tarrant" (sic), asking those he was messaging to "bump the race war thread irl", and saying that "Valhalla awaits". Several intermediary messages had been removed.
The messages are seen as praising Brenton Tarrant, the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque shootings in March 2019, and refer to him as "saint tarrant". The Christchurch shootings were inspired by, among other things, the 22/7 attacks that happened in Norway in 2011. The user also posted a meme depicting Tarrant, Patrick Crusius, and John T. Earnest as "chads"(alpha males). All three perpetrated racially and/or religiously motivated gun murders in 2019. Manshaus' posts also reportedly feature him describing himself as the "third disciple"; internet extremism researchers connect this with the rhetoric of Tarrant, suggesting the other 'disciples' would be Earnest and Crusius. Online, Manshaus has also praised Vidkun Quisling, who headed a domestic Nazi collaborationist regime during World War II, and expressed far-right, anti-immigration views.
The shooting edit
Manshaus was reportedly wearing a uniform and helmet when he entered the mosque, shooting his way through the locked door. He was carrying two shotguns or "shotgun-like" weapons and a pistol, opening fire in the room. Prayers had just ended, with only three elders remaining in the mosque. One of the men approached Manshaus before pinning him down and moving his weapons away. The two began to struggle, with Manshaus injuring him. Another of the men in the room then hit Manshaus on the head to subdue him. The police were called at 16:07 local time. Manshaus was in a chokehold when police arrived at the mosque. Manshaus appeared in the court two days after the attack, August 12th, 2019, with his face and neck marked by bruises and scratches.
Just like Tarrant, Manshaus wanted to stream his attack. However, the livestream wouldn't work, so he recorded it on his gopro instead.