Brutal charge: Swedish horse police trample anti-Nazi rally
At least 10 people were injured in the Swedish city of Malmö after local police unleashed a mounted charge at participants of a rally against Sweden’s neo-Nazi party. Clashes with police erupted as anti-fascist activists attempted to block a rival rally.
RT,
24
August, 2014
Around
1,500 people on Saturday gathered at the Limhamn square in the center
of Malmö to protest the planned speech by Stefan Jacobsson, the
leader of the neo-Nazi Svenskarnas Parti (The Swedes’ Party).
The
tension mounted even ahead of Jacobsson’s appearance, with
demonstrators throwing fire crackers and smoke bombs, the Local
reports.
The
controversial politician was booed when he appeared on stage as the
crowd chanted: “No Nazis on our streets.”
But
the violence broke out when Jacobsson completed his address, with the
scuffle starting between the protestors and the police.
(WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO BELOW)
To see video GO HERE
According
to Sydsvenkan paper, the majority of the protestors were peaceful and
the clashes were provoked by a group of “provocateurs” among the
anti-fascists.
Police
then moved to forcefully disperse the rally using mounted unit.
As
chaos broke out in the square, several people fell on the ground and
were trampled by the horses, while another protestor was hit by a
police van.
Ten
people were taken to hospital after the rally, with five of them
reportedly suffering serious injuries.
“I
am shocked at the police’s excessive force,” Matilda Renkvist,
one of the organizer of the demonstration, said.
The
police explained their actions by saying that they had to intervene
as the events escalated in the square
“We
were forced to ride in because masked demonstrators had moved to the
outside of the square and we needed to make some arrests,” Ewa-Gun
Westford, police spokesman, told the TT news agency.
Six
people were detained following the clashes, with one person being
held on suspicion of assaulting a police office.
Jacobsson,
who is campaigning for the Swedish general election on September 14,
held a speech in the town of Ystad earlier on Saturday, which went on
without incident.
“There
was a great contrast between responses in Ystad and Malmo,” the
neo-Nazi leader told Realisten website. “In Ystad, there were many
who came to really listen to the speech, while the events were marred
by Leftist violence in Malmo where it was rather
counter-demonstrators, who had come to fight with the police.”
This
is not the first time Malmö has witnessed disturbing scenes of
violence during protests, in March 2013 a standoff between
anti-racist demonstrators and anti-Muslim group the Swedish Defence
League (SDL) was similarly dispersed by police using horses, dogs and
helicopters.
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