AN IRISH man has described how he developed a four-year friendship with Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik while gaming online.
The man, introduced as "Frank", who was interviewed on the Ray D'Arcy Showon Today FM yesterday, said he made contact with Breivik while playing the web-based role-playing game World of Warcraft.
The man said he had been in contact with Breivik through the game and on Facebook for four years, speaking with him through a conference call feature of the game “every day”.
Describing how Breivik had joined the same “guild” or team as him, he said he “got to know him over time,” often talking about what was going on in daily life.
“Frank” said Breivik “used to ask me things about the politics in Ireland . . . he used to ask about the Government and about the IRA”. Asked how he felt when he realised Breivik was responsible for the murders in Norway, he said: “It’s a completely surreal experience because I know the guy for about four years and just to see his picture up on the TV cameras saying that he’s after murdering everybody, it’s just a complete shock.”
Contacted by a fellow online gamer in Russia who advised him to get to a TV “because Anders was on the telly”, the man said “I thought he was joking . . .
“I didn’t know what to say or what to think, it was very, very strange. He just seemed like a normal, nice guy.”
