Malmö riots: “No religious agenda”

The unrest in Malmö started as early as Friday afternoon with an illegal demonstration in Stortorget by Danish right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan.

He had applied for a demonstration permit to show his discontent with Islam and, according to the information, among other things, he intended to burn the Koran wrapped in bacon.

When Paludan was denied entry to Sweden, several people started playing football with the Koran at Stortorget.

Overnight in Rosengård district with car fires, vandalism and stone throwing at the police.

Many gathered

Some 300 people gathered at Amiralsgatan and Rosengård and fireworks, firecrackers and Bengals were set off. Several policemen were injured and 10 to 20 people were detained overnight until Saturday.

Subsequently, Per-Erik Ebbeståhl, head of Malmö’s security chief, among others, considered that it was not people with religious motives who caused the disturbances in Malmö.

– Our image and that of the police is that it is people who do not move for a religious agenda who did this during the night. It doesn’t matter if it’s a soccer game or this kind of event. It is the people who take advantage of these opportunities to provoke society and the police, he says according to Swedish Radio.

Police spokesman Ewa-Gun Westford confirms that opinion for Kvällposten throughout.

– It was the people who came from outside who caused the riots in Rosengård, he says.

According to Westford, the police have never witnessed this type of incident before.

Incitement to ethnicity

The police are now working on a large number of reports related to the course of events. The reports have been made both by the public and by the police themselves.

– It is about everything from incitement to ethnic groups to illegal threats, violent riots and violence against public officials. We also have people suspected of preparing for blue light sabotage after being caught with gasoline in a PET bottle, says Ewa-Gun Westford.

To bring order to the chaotic events, the police have decided to allow the special event that aired in connection with the riots to continue until Wednesday.

In connection with the Malmö riots, there are also the events in Ronneby on Saturday night, when some 20 people burned tires in the center of Ronneby. When rescue services arrived at the scene, the crowd began throwing stones.

A person from the public and a policeman were injured by the throwing of stones. During the night, the police had to direct a large police force to the scene to stop the riots. Several people were arrested.

Anti-Semitic slogans

Police work now also includes several reports that during the chaos in Rosengård strong anti-Semitic slogans were shouted.

Several films from the event have been posted on social media and have attracted a lot of attention. Emil Moghaddam, First Vice President, has tweeted a movie. for KDU Västra Götaland.

The Central Jewish Council believes that the protesters have incited ethnic groups and is now calling on the police to intervene against them.

– This is information that we know and where reports have been made, says Ewa-Gun Westford.

Per-Erik Ebbeståhl, head of security in the city of Malmö, says there were magnets in place to calm the atmosphere in the place, but that later in the evening it still degenerated.