Unprecedented war and violence sparked in Sweden after Sweden’s anti-Islam group led by Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan announced burning of copies of Islamic holy book, the Quran last Thursday.
Following the politician’s declaration, frustrated Muslims and counter protesters started damaging buildings, attacking police officers and setting fires.
In the reports published by the local media also several protesters threw stones at the officers while others set police cars on fire.
Riots in Sweden:
– Riots erupted in multiple cities in Sweden after politician Rasmus Paludan organized anti-Islam rallies
– Today marks the 4th day of protests against the rallies
– Riots are occurring in Orebro, Stockholm, Malmo, Linkoping and Norrkoping pic.twitter.com/xdHrFjI7XS— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) April 17, 2022
According to the Swedish authorities, at least 14 civilians and 26 police officers had been injured in the riots.
In an official statement released by Sweden’s national police chief Andres Thornberg, he claimed that “he had never seen such violent riots.”
The riots erupted in multiple cities including Stockholm, Malmo, Orebro, Linkoping and Norrkoping.
As of April 19, at least over people were reportedly injured while the police officers called for more resources to deal with the riots, Aljazeera reported.
Reports revealed that politician Paludan had planned to hold a rally but he never appeared, sparking outrage that resulted in a riot in Norrkoping, leaving three people wounded by gunfire after officers “fired warning shots” during the attack.
“Three people seem to have been hit by ricochets and are now being cared for in hospital. All three injured have been arrested on suspicion of committing criminal acts.” local police said in a statement.
Paludan, who caused the chaos then later released a statement, claiming that he “cancelled” the rally because the Swedish authorities “are completely incapable of protecting themselves and me.”
“If I was seriously injured or killed due to the inadequacy of the police authority, then it would be very sad for Swedes, Danes and other northerners,” he said.
Rasmus Paludan became known in Sweden after making a series anti-Muslim Youtube videos that started in 2017.
“The enemy is Islam and Muslims. The best thing would be if there were not a single Muslim left on this Earth, then we would have reached our final goal,” he said in a December 2018 video.
In 2019, he was sentenced to 14 days in jail for his racist speech in Denmark.
