OSLO — The policeman who arrested Anders Behring Breivik described Friday a calm killer who asked for a Band-Aid for a small cut on his finger.

On the 25th day of his trial for killing 77 people last July 22, Breivik surprised the court when he hailed the police, who have been severely criticized in Norway for not acting quickly enough to stop the bloodbath, insisting they did the best job possible under difficult circumstances.

Haavard Gaasbakk, the head of local police operations, told the Oslo district court he had exchanged a few words with the 33-year-old right-wing extremist when he handcuffed him last year.

“You are not the ones I am targeting. I consider you as brothers. It’s a coup, I must save Norway from Islamization,” Breivik said as he lay on the ground with the police officer kneeling on his back.

Immediately after his arrest, Breivik complained that he had a small cut on his index finger and had asked for a Band-Aid, Gaasbakk recalled, drawing ironic laughs from onlookers.

The police officer said he answered, “That is not a priority. Look around you.”

Utoya was then still covered in dozens of bodies.

Sixty-nine people died on the island, most of them teens attending a political youth camp, while eight people perished earlier in the day when Breivik bombed a government building in Oslo.