by A swedish kind of death
Fri May 31st, 2013 at 05:42:51 AM EST
Prompted by an exchange with DoDo in the 28 May 2013 thread, I will collect some bits about how the so called riots in Stockholm got started.
front-paged by afew
So day by day.
The shooting
On the night between the 13th and the 14th a 69 year old man was shot to death by the police in his apartment.
The lie
For some reason the police published a story that turned out to be false. The really local press got hold of witness statements contradicting the story from the police.
The story was published on the 14th and the police version was perceived as a naked lie.
The demonstration
On the 15th the organisation Megafonen - The Megaphone - organised a demonstration in Husby demanding an inquiry. It was widely covered by media.
The "riot"
Then on the 19th something happened. I am not exactly sure what, but here are two eyewitness accounts.
| Upplopp och bränder i Husby | Inrikes | SvD | | Riots and fires in Husby | Domestic | SvD |
| Daniel Ghirmai är medborgarvärd i Husby, anställd av kommunen. Han var med under oroligheterna i helgen, iförd en jacka som identifierade hans funktion, och deltog i presskonferensen som ögonvittne. | | Daniel Ghirmai is citizenhost in Husby, employed by the municipality. He was involved in the troubles of the weekend, wearing a jacket that identified his function, and participated in the press conference as an eye witness. |
| - När vi kom hit så var det en bil som brann. Då fick vi gå undan. Sedan, när vi hade gått fram och skickat hem ett 30-tal ungdomar, så tyckte polisen att vi hade gjort ett dåligt jobb. Två av mina kollegor fick ta emot batongsmällar, säger Ghirmai. | | - When we came here a car was on fire. Then we had to step away. Later, when we have approached and sent home some 30 young people, the Police thought that we had made a poor job. Two of my colleagues received baton hits, says Ghirmai. |
| Han säger att han själv fick höra flera glåpord från poliserna. | | He says that he himself heard several slurs from the policemen. |
| - Vi fick höra allt: luffare, pajas, apor, negrer. Och de frågade om vi inte hade hundar i vårt hemland, för vissa av kollegorna blev rädda för deras enorma hundar, säger han. | | - We got to hear everything: tramps, clowns, monkeys, negroes. And they asked if we had dogs in our homeland, because some of my colleagues were afraid of their huge dogs, he says. |
Citizenhosts are a project in three suburbs in Stockholm with low social standing and many immigrants. The hosts are employed by the municipality to help out in the public space in the communities were they live. Sort of professional good citizens. They cooperate with social workers, the police, nightwalkers etc.
| Husby belägrat av poliser. Gå hem? Det här ÄR vårt hem. | Megafonen | | Husby under siege by policemen. Go home? This IS our home. | Megaphone |
| En unken lukt av giftig rök spred sig genom bostadsområdet och ledde till att många av oss tog oss ut till Husbys gator av nyfikenhet, där vi möttes av maskerade poliser i hjälm med hundar och dragna batonger. Polisen gick till attack mot de boende som hade samlats på torget. Försvarslösa människor blev slagna med batong och bortjagade från sitt egna område. Vi hade helt enkelt inte längre rätt att vistas där vi ville, utanför våra egna hem. Vi hade inte heller rätt att ifrågasätta polisens metoder då deras respons blev att springa efter oss igen från flera olika håll med sina hundar och batonger. Urskiljningslöst slog polisen mot ungdomar, föräldrar som samlats och stadsdelens egna fältassistenter. Folk som valt att debattera, argumentera och demonstrera emot polisvåldet fick nu batonger slängda mot sig. Då blev det tydligt att polisens våld riktades mot alla i Husby. | | A musty smell of toxic smoke spread through the residential area and led to many of us, took us out to Husby streets of curiosity, where we were met by masked police in helmets with dogs and batons drawn. The police went on the attack against the residents who had gathered in the square. Defenseless people were beaten with batons and chased away from their own territory. We were simply no longer entitled to stay where we wanted, outside our own homes. We had no right to question police methods when their response was to run after us again from several different directions with their dogs and batons. The police beat without discernment the young people, parents gathered and the district's own field assistants. People who chose to debate, argue and demonstrate against police violence was now batons throws at him. Then it became clear that the police violence directed against all in Husby. |
This is the organisation that arranged the demonstraiton on the 15th. They are now arranging a collection to cover the deductible for burnt cars.
So exactly what went down here is unclear, some kind of gathering there was (The Local says it was a demonstration), at least one car was burning (but I don't know where in relation to the gathering), the police used violence.
Then what?
From what I have gathered, then it rolled on. The roles were established, burning cars vs police violence. But it is a depressing play, and I have seen it before, so act one is all I could muster for now. Meanwhile act three where blame is assigned is rolling on in the media.
