Lars Vilks, Swedish Mohammed cartoonist and critic of Islam, remains defiant

“There’s this physiological effect that the more things settle down, the more you feel like nothing will happen,” he said in a recent interview. “But looking at it from a more rational perspective, the risk for a new attack grows bigger the more things returns to normal.”

Still, he said he isn’t afraid and refuses to go underground. His address in southwestern Sweden will remain listed and he will continue to paint whatever he wants, he said.

“Perhaps I would feel differently if I had kids, but then it would be tragic if you had to compromise with yourself because of the circumstances,” he said…

“Police protection doesn’t offer a 100% guarantee as we saw with Charlie Hebdo but it goes pretty far,” he said. “I don’t have to lie awake at night listening for odd sounds.”

He has to plan outings in advance because he “can’t go anywhere without a police escort,” he said. “It’s tricky for me to be spontaneous.”