Espen Andersen Braathen biography: 13 things about Islam convert from Kongsberg, Norway

Espen Andersen Braathen is a Danish-Norwegian man. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He is a dual citizen of Norway and Denmark. _(a)(b)
2. He is an Islam convert. _(a)
3. He was born in Norway. _(b)
4. His mother is Danish while his father is Norwegian. _(b)(c)
5. He grew up in Kongsberg, Lower Buskerud, Viken, Norway. _(b)
6. He has major mental challenges throughout his adult life, according to people who knew him. He is mentally ill and his family had suffered threats for several years, according to a relative. _(b)(c)
7. Since the beginning of the 2000s, he has not been employed. _(a)
8. In 2012, he was charged with aggravated theft and purchase and use of a small amount of hashish and sentenced to 60 days in probation. _(a)
9. In 2017, he published a video declaring himself a Muslim. _(b)
10. In 2020, concerns about his radicalization was brought to the police’s attention but in 2021, the authorities received no reports about radicalization. _(a)
11. On May 29, 2020, he allegedly broke into his parents’ house, threatened to kill his father and left a Colt revolver caliber 45 on the sofa. The court in Kongsberg banned him from visiting his parents for six months. He later violated the restraining order. _(a)(c)
12. On the evening of October 13, 2021, he fired arrows at shoppers inside a Coop Extra supermarket in Kongsberg, killing five people aged 50 to 70 and wounding two others. He was arrested and questioned for more than three hours overnight at a police station in Drammen, Buskerud, Viken. He was represented by defense lawyer Fredrik Neumann. _(a)(b)(c)
13. He was 37 years old when he was arrested on October 13, 2021. _(a)

.

_SOURCES:

• _{a. VG}
• _{b. VG}
• _{c. Ekstra Bladet}