Despite Breivik’s fear of a Muslim takeover of Europe, he targeted non-Muslims, particularly people he identified as symbols of the political establishment. Since the government was to blame for the Muslim threat, an assault on the government was necessary to save European civilization. But without a doubt, Islamophobia fueled Breivik’s killing rampage. Bias against Muslims was translated into a hate crime deliberately carried out against non-Muslims. After the Norway shootings, no one seemed safe from the threat of anti-Muslim hate crimes.

XREF: Counterintuitive link between Islamophobia and attacks on non-Muslims; connects to broader dynamics of scapegoating and displaced violence in radical ideologies.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 606