[02.08.2003]: Attack Against the Audience during the Stockholm Pride Parade

 

In front of the Stockholm Pride Parade, a rainbow flag, 250 meters long, is carried through the centre of Stockholm. The Stockholm Pride Festival ends on August 3. (Photo: SCANPIX)  

Around 20 skinheads attacked the Pride Parade in Stockholm. People panicked and tried to run away from the square when the skinheads rushed at the spectators. The press assistant of the Pride Festival was kicked down and brought to the hospital.

Around 16h, when the Pride Parade passed the “Slottsbacken” [Castle Hill] in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan [the medieval city centre], suddenly bottles were flying through the air.

“The skin heads were standing up on the Slottsbacken, behind the police”, explains Emelie, 20 years old to AFTONBLADET. She was one of those who panicked and ran away when the skinheads rushed at the many people who were watching the parade.

According to Emelie it had been between 35 and 50 skinheads. The police, however, stated that it was a group consisting of between 20 and 25 individuals.

Pride Assistant kicked down

Kjell Lindgren, spokesman for the police at the spot, informed the press that a man born in 1976 had been hurt and brought to the hospital.

“he has not been seriously injured, but he has injuries in his head”, Lindgren says.

The Pride-Festival-General, Anders Selin told that it is a press assistant of the Festival who has been injured.

According to witness testimony, a number of 10 individuals participated in kicking him until he was bleeding. Anders Selin also says, he might have broken something. Pride-spectator, Emelie did not see the actual assault on the press assistant.

“but I saw a little girl who was hit by a bottle. She might have been three years old and the bottle hit her on the foot or her leg”, she says.

According to Anders Selin, the press assistant went together with the pride press-spokesman Nicke Johansson. They did not walk in the actual parade, but walked back and forth along it. Kjell Lindgren says that there might have been more injuries.

“All information is very insecure when such things occur. It takes time before the final number of injuries will be registered and the witnesses start appearing to testify”.

The Spectators were the Target

The Eye-witness Emelie says that the skinheads targeted the audience.

“they did not touch those who carried the flag. It was the adience that they concentrated upon. They did not want us to cheer at the Pride-Parade, she says”.

Around 16:30, the police took 2 skinheads into custody, charged with harassment, attempted assault and violent insurrection. Only minutes later, the police started the task, removing other individuals suspected of “peace disturbance”.

Anders Selin condemns the attack that occurred in the middle of the parade while he went in front of it.

“it is cowardly and pathetic and a total lack of respect for democracy”, he says.

Pictures from the Stockholm Pride Festival are available on Aftonbladet’s Web site: från Pride-festivalen

 

Source:

Attack mot publiken vid Pride-paraden, by Malin Ekmark, Published: 2003-08-02

 

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Copyright © 2003
Document created 28.07.2003, 22:31:02 CET
Published 29.07.2003

Aftenposten in Oslo writes that Martin Andersen, openly gay member of the Swedish parliament from “Folkepartiet”, [The People’s Party], who participated himself in the parade, now criticizes the Stockholm police for their failure to prevent the attack of the skinheads.

“That around one hundred nazis could make their way through this ocean of people watching along the pride-route, is upsetting”, he says.

In the same article, spokesman for the pride festival Nicke Johansson says that the police needed several minutes to get the turmoil under control. He says now that as many as 100 neo-nazis infiltrated the parade. The incident took place in the middle of the parade and most participants did not notice the attack at all. The parade continued as normal, and ended as planed, despite the disturbances.

Update 23:19

A spokesman for the “National Democratic Youth” (Nationaldemokratisk Ungdom, NDU), a rightwing extremist group, Marc Abramsson, that has taken responsibility for the incident, however, now argues that the participants in the parade started it all, when some of them threw stones at the neo-nazies… They were just defending themselves, and they are really the victims here. The police however, maintains that the skinheads started the incident. Also several witnesses who have been in touch with Aftonbladet confirm this. According to NDU, between 150 and 200 of their members and sympathizers were present. Most of them were between 16 and 25 years of age.

Sources:

 Oppdatert 02.08.03, kl 20:45 Snauskaller angrep homseparade (NTB-TT-Reuters) 

: Attack mot publiken vid Pride-paraden , by Malin Ekmark Published: 2003-08-02, updated version