STOCKHOLM (AP) -- Groups of youth have smashed shop windows, set cars ablaze and burnt down a cultural center as the riots that started in one Stockholm suburb after a fatal police shooting spread to other low-income areas of the Swedish capital.
. . .
[Police spokesman] Lindgren says 30 vehicles were set ablaze in six suburbs where mainly immigrants live. Gangs of up to 60 youths also set fire to a school and a nursery and hurled rocks at police and fire fighters.
The unrest began Sunday in response to the May 13 shooting, in which police killed a 69-year-old, knife-wielding man in a northwestern suburb.
"Groups of youth", huh? A story at TheLocal.se identifies them also only as "youths". Good try, you guys, but at this point, is there anyone who doesn't know what "youths" is code for, in stories of riots, violence, etc.?
(Incidentally, one thing I will never, ever understand is why these types of gangs always seem to destroy their own neighborhoods. Um, you live there. It might not be the best part of town to begin with, but how is trashing the place going to improve your situation? Come next week, chances are you and your family will still be living and working in the same community-- which you have just further degraded. Of course, the kind of people who do these things aren't exactly the brainy bunch...)
From TheLocal.se:
"You have to see what happened from a wider point of view. It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it's not the last. This is the kind of reaction when there isn't equality between people, which is the case in Sweden," Rami al-Khamisi, a law student and founder of local youth organization Megafonen, told The Local.
On Monday, local newspaper editor Rouzbeh Djalaie said the shooting probably provided the spark.
"There's frustration in Husby and it risks spiralling out of control. People want long-term solutions to social problems instead of an increased police presence," Djalaie told The Local.
Yes, of course; it's all Sweden's fault. (...For letting these hooligans into the country to begin with, you mean, right...?) After all, Sweden is so well known for its inequality. It's not like Sweden makes itself ridiculous by bending over backward to avoid even the appearance of inequality. Nuh-uh. Nope. They just revel in a veritable orgy of inequality, in Sweden. Known for it around the world! (Ouch! Concentrated sarcasm burns...)
From the same article:
Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt commented on the matter in a press conference at the Riksdag on Tuesday afternoon.
"We've had two nights with great unrest, damage, and an intimidating atmosphere in Husby and there is a risk it will continue," he said.
"We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence. Let's be clear: This is not OK. We cannot be ruled by violence."
Well, good luck, because I have a strong feeling you're going to need it. It might help if more people spoke up against the political correctness on steroids that currently has a stranglehold on the nation.
And this shooting that supposedly started the rioting? Yeah, sounds like it was a terrible loss to the community. I'm sure the woman the police were trying to protect when they shot the
ETA:
'Multiculturalism failing': Swedish PM pleas for order as riots engulf Stockholm suburbs
The headline makes it look (to me) like the Swedish PM says multiculturalism is failing, which is not accurate. It's actually a quote from the chairman of the Swedish National Democrats Party. Still, there's some interesting material that the other articles I linked didn't include.
Al Jazeera, on the other hand, covers the story this way:
Police in Sweden have arrested six people after a second night of escalating riots in a Stockholm suburb.Completely unbiased-- just as you'd expect from Al Jazeera. Ha! "Shining a spotlight on how Sweden treats immigrants"! (!!!)
On Monday night, aboout 200 people took part in demonstrations following the fatal police shooting of a 69-year-old man.
The unrest is shining a spotlight on how Sweden treats immigrants.
Some of you (out there in my vast audience of... two? three? ;o)) are probably wondering why I'm getting all het up about this. I hope I'm not coming across as an obnoxious American trying to teach Sweden how to "do better", because the U.S. is sitting pretty and has it all figured out. (I wish. Goodness knows we have our own problems. Too many to enumerate, too close to home.) I'm well aware that I'm no expert-- yet from what I hear from Donald about current events in Sweden, I feel safe wagering that I know more about Sweden than the average American... and this story just makes me mad.
If you knew how completely, painfully PC the media is in Sweden! You think it's bad here? Ha ha ha... We're getting there, but (on certain subjects, at least) they have it worse. If you heard the ridiculous stories of the "child refugees" who are obviously grown men-- the shameful waste of resources on people who should be taking care of themselves-- the stubborn unwillingness to admit that there might possibly be a problem. And then people have the gall to say that Sweden hasn't done enough for them? That there is inequality? That it's time to shine a spotlight on "how Sweden treats immigrants"? Good ga-rief! Sweden seems to treat its immigrants better than it treats its natives! It. Makes. Me. Furious. And I don't even live there!!
...So. Anyway. That's why I was stirred past my usual "post nothing but the occasional flurry of photos" filter, today. Outrage. Now back to our regularly scheduled photos of plants and drywall. ;o)
