The Swedish Resistance Movement or SMR – who, if you didn’t guess already, are an ultra-violent neo-Nazi group – have lately been spending a lot of time spreading their message in the Stockholm suburb of Kärrtorp. They have painted swastikas on buildings in the area, and supporters of SMR have assaulted people who they consider as enemies to their twisted agenda. So on Sunday, around 200 people who have had enough of SMR’s violence – shop owners, neighbours, grannies, parents and their children – gathered on Kärrtorp’s main square and peacefully demonstrated against racism and nazism, that by the way is on the rise in Sweden.
Fifteen minutes into the demonstration, a group of around 30 neo-Nazis marched into the square carrying smoking flares. Unfortunately, police underestimated one of Sweden’s most violent far-right organisations and as a result, only ten officers attended the event. It wasn’t long before things got out of hand.
Videos by VICE
A battle begun as police desperately tried to keep the groups apart. After about half an hour, the battlefield changed from the centre of Kärrtorp into the nearby woods. The chants changed from “No Nazis on our streets” to “No Nazis in our forests”. But as the battle slowly transformed into a medieval fight with sticks and stones, more police arrived and eventually outnumbered the neo-Nazis who loud and clearly paid tribute to Adolf Hitler. Luckily, they all soon disappeared into the woods. With SMR being out of the way, the demonstration could finally continue. All in all 28 people were arrested and four people were injured.
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Previously: Watching Swedish Neo-Nazis Supporting the Golden Dawn
