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300 people gathered on Friday along Amiralsgatan in Malmö to protest against the burning of the Koran as supporters of the Danish xenophobic Stram Kurs were taking place hours earlier. At night, the situation worsened and people threw stones at the police at the same time that some 20 fires were started. Police classified the incident as a violent riot.
On Saturday Malmö Police have requested reinforcements from other regions to be able to handle any new unrest.
– We have planned a police operation. It is natural to do it after the situation we had yesterday. It requires a lot of resources and we have judged that we need reinforcement, says Ewa-Gun Westford.
She says that Police Region West will assist Malmö Police overnight. Ewa-Gun Westford, on the other hand, doesn’t want to get into how many police officers are reinforcing.
– We do not say how many it is, but we have received the resources we believe necessary.
At the same time, more reinforcements may be needed.
– We have continuous contact with other regions. It’s all about taking inventory of what they can align with if necessary, says Ewa-Gun Westford.
Burnt out truck after Friday’s riots in Malmö.
Photo: Johan Nilsson / TT
Currently available however, there are no signs of further unrest, he says. No requests for demonstrations have been received on Saturday, but Malmö police are following how the evening unfolds in various locations around the city.
– We monitor the situation in Rosengård, but also other critical points where people tend to gather. These include Stortorget and Gustav Adolf’s Square, says Ewa-Gun Westford.
– If we see any trends, we will be tough.
Are you worried about new riots?
– We are not worried, however, we are unhappy about what happened yesterday. Those who live in Rosengård don’t want it that way. This is used as an excuse to destroy. Residents of the area went out early in the morning to clean up. We know them.
During friday several people were arrested in connection with the protests. All have been released.
Several are suspected of calling for destruction along Amiralsgatan. Police are now trying to identify the instigators.
– We have a solid job to identify them. Yesterday was chaos and we have a lot of work ahead of us. It is partly about finding the instigators, partly about finding those who committed acts of violence, threw stones and destroyed.
