PRIDE25JUNE: RIPPLES

Context

25 June 2022, the Norwegian LGBTQ community became the victim of a mass shooting. The attack struck at the heart of the queer community, in the area around the London pub in downtown Oslo. Two persons were killed and 23 injured. A higher casualty count was avoided due to heroic efforts by civilians who pursued and subdued the shooter. With reference to the uncertain security situation, the authorities cancelled events hosted by Oslo PRIDE and subsequently also the post-attack solidarity march. In June 2023, a government commission (25. Juni utvalget) investigating the police response criticized both the failure to avert the attack and the decision to halt public events initiated by the LGBTQ community. In a context where the LGBTQ community is experiencing increased levels of threats and harassment, the attack, its immediate aftermath and the findings of the report have been experienced as traumatic and difficult by victims, survivors and by the LGBTQ community more generally. From an academic perspective, what type of democratic questions emerge from this attack and its aftermath and what are the legal ripple effects?

About the pilot project

This pilot initiative documents and analyses the  ripple effects of 25 June. The initiative is part of LAW22JULY: RIPPLES, and is funded through seed funding from the Institute for Criminology and Sociology of Law.  The initiative will  identify and discuss problems related to commemoration, societal security, and democratic participation. The overall aim of the initiative is to contribute to a research agenda on the 25 June attack in relation to democratic  justice, legal accountability and the rule of law.

• Commemoration: The 25 June government commission report asks acute questions about the relationship between commemoration, risk and public space. How has the attack affected the relationship between  LGBTQ-rights, exclusion, and trust and how does this matter for how we conceptualize commemoration and restorative justice after the attack?
• Public security and marginalized groups: How do increased security measures influence perceptions of safety, trust and collective vulnerabilities for the LGBT population? What is the relationship between free speech, the rule of law and participation in democratic societies?
• Equality and due process: how do survivors, victims and the bereaved understand and make sense of government’s communication about legal rights and the availability of  government-funded counsel for victims and survivors (bistandsadvokat)? Given the complex interplay between mental illness and fundamentalist Islamist ideology, how may we understand criminal law response to 25 June – and how can we situate this response in relation to the 22 July 2011 attack on the government quarters and Utøya, and the 2019 Mosque attack? 

Activities and dissemination 2023-2024

• We plan events involving the LGBTQ community, activists, academics and responders working on the 2011, 2019 and 2022 terror attacks as well as international scholars working on government and civil society responses to terror. Activities will include a public breakfast meeting, a  digital roundtable and an academic conference.
• Pending funding, we hope to undertake a study of the scheme for providing victims and survivors with legal counsel (bistandsadvokat).
• We will conduct participant observation of  the 25 June criminal trial.
• We will offer insights and analysis in Norwegian and English via blog posts, conference papers, and through media participation.

Aim

• To contribute to a public, knowledge-based conversation about the ripple effects of the 25 June attack.
• To learn from international actors with experience from similar types of attacks.
• To map out existing knowledge about the 25 June attack.
• To contribute to developing a national and international research agenda on terror attacks against LGBTQ-communities.