STOCKHOLM ON FIRE : RIOTS ERUPT AFTER MAN IS KILLED BY POLICE

 


Due to unprecedented rioting in the past three days, Stockholm is on fire.  It all started when a man was killed by police last week after he was found menacing the his roommate and the police force with a machete. 

The people in the neighborhood where the incident occurred however, deemed it an act of 'police brutality'.  Riots soon ensued and 8 people have been arrested. 

For three nights, rioters have set fires to everything in their path and thrown stones at the ambulances and emergency services that were on stand by. 

The authorities in Husby and nearby Rinkeby are saying that the riots are a 'venting' process that was sparked by the killing, but that have little to do with the incident itself.  

However, the Husby area is populated in large majority by immigrants.  80% of all Husby inhabitants are from the Middle East or Turkey, with a minority presence of Somalians. 

However, the community's grievances stem from what is seen as overt racism from the police force and swedish authorities.  Teenagers have often been called 'monkeys', relates one law student. 

All in all, the immigrants feel marginalised, and in certain instances, segregated.  

The man who died was 69 years old.  When the police was called to the area, they found him holding a machete. 

After trying to dissuade the man, the police realized that there was a woman inside his home and they feared for her life.  

That's when they stormed the apartment and the death ensued. 

Source : BBC  5.22.13 

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