On 19 May 2013, violent disturbances broke out in Husby, a suburb dominated by immigrants and second-generation immigrant residents, including a substantial number from Somalia, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Iraq, in northern

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, Sweden. The riots were reportedly in response to the shooting to death by police of an elderly man, reportedly a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

, armed with a

puukko A puukko () is a small traditional Finnish general purpose belt knife with a single curved cutting edge, solid hidden tang and, usually, a flat spine. Military models of puukko were popular in the Russian criminal underworld under the name "Fi ...

knife, after entering his apartment and then allegedly trying to cover up the man's death. The Husby political group Megafonen published a blog post on 14 May, the day after the shooting, in which the deceased man was referred to as "non-white". Megafonen also called for a demonstration against " police brutality" on 15 May, two days after the shooting, in the same post. The disturbances involved several hundred youths and resulted in the injury of at least seven police officers. On Tuesday 28 May, the Stockholm police reported that the situation was "back to normal" with no rioting, only a few burned-out cars, and no reports of unrest in other Swedish towns either.

Background

Stockholm has suffered disturbances of a similar nature in poor and segregated areas several times since 1975. In the

2010 Rinkeby riots On June 8 and June 9, 2010, youth riots broke out in Rinkeby, a suburb dominated by Muslim immigrant residents, in northern Stockholm, Sweden. Up to 100 Muslim youths threw bricks, set fires and attacked the local police station in Rinkeby. It ...

up to 100 youths threw bricks, set fires and attacked the local police station in

Rinkeby Rinkeby () is a stadsdel, district in the Rinkeby-Kista borough, Stockholm, Sweden. Rinkeby had 19,349 inhabitants in 2016. The neighbourhood was part of the Million Programme. The Stockholm metro station Rinkeby metro station, Rinkeby was also o ...

for two nights in a row.

Disturbances

The disturbances began on the night of Sunday 19 May 2013, when youths started setting cars on fire in Husby. At least 100 vehicles were destroyed. A garage was also set on fire, which forced the evacuation of an apartment block, and a shopping center was vandalized. The police, called out at 10 pm, were then stoned by youths, and three officers were injured. Calm had returned by 5:30 am. The police estimated that about 50 to 60 youths had been involved in the riot, but no arrests were made. Third day of Husby riots

The disturbances continued on Monday night, 20 May. Rioters set fire to eleven cars and four waste containers and threw stones at the police and firefighters who were fighting the fire. Seven officers were injured. The police estimated that about 50 to 100 people had been involved in the day's disturbances, some of whom were as young as 12 or 13, but the majority were adults. Calm had returned by 4 am. Seven people between the ages of 15 and 19 were arrested for assaulting public officials. Two were released and a third was found to be a minor. Seond day of Husby riots, burning van

There was a smaller disturbance in southern Stockholm, but it is not known whether it was related to Husby. The trouble also spread to

Fittja Fittja is a part of Botkyrka Municipality and the name of the Stockholm metro station in the area. It was settled during the 1970s and consists mostly of rental apartments. As of 2008, there were 7,458 people living in Fittja; 64.7% of them were o ...

Kista Kista () is a district in the borough of Rinkeby-Kista, Stockholm, Sweden. It has a strategic position located in between Sweden's main airport, the Stockholm-Arlanda International Airport and central Stockholm, and alongside the main natio ...

, and

Tensta Tensta is a district in Spånga-Tensta borough, Stockholm, Sweden. There are about 6,000 apartments in Tensta On the night of Tuesday 21 May, the disturbances spread to Bredäng, Edsberg,

Flemingsberg Flemingsberg is a southern suburb of Stockholm, Sweden that is located in Huddinge Municipality in the south-western part of the contiguous Stockholm urban area. It is located approximately 15 minutes by Stockholm commuter rail from central ...

Norsborg Norsborg is a part of Botkyrka Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden. Norsborg consists of the residential areas Hallunda, Eriksberg and Slagsta. Norsborg and Hallunda are contiguous suburbs. History Norsborg was previously a country esta ...

and Skarpnäck. Thirty cars were set on fire, and the Jakobsberg police station and shopping center were vandalized. Eight people were arrested. Calm had returned by 3 am. The disturbances continued on 22 May when a large number of cars were set on fire. In Rinkeby 7 cars were burned. In

Rågsved Rågsved is a suburb historically belonging to the district of Bandhagen in Stockholm, Sweden. History Rågsved remained uninhabited until the mid-1950s. In 1953 a development plan was set up for the area. Rågsveds centrum and Rågsved met ...

, a police station was burned down. In

Hagsätra Hagsätra is a quarter in Söderort, the southern part of Stockholm Municipality, Sweden. It borders with the quarters of Älvsjö, Örby and Rågsved in Stockholm, as well as Stuvsta in neighboring Huddinge Municipality. Hagsätra covers a ...

, the police were attacked at 10 pm, and one police officer was injured. In

Skogås Skogås is a district of Huddinge Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, south of Stockholm along the railroad to the city and harbour of Nynäshamn. In 2016, Skogås had 14,451 inhabitants. The suburb has conjoined with its northern nei ...

, a restaurant was burned down and firefighters were attacked with stones. On Thursday, 23 May, at about 8 pm (CET) police were called to

to a spot where five cars had been set on fire.LIVE: Nya bränder i Stockholmsförorter , Nyheter , Expressen , Senaste nytt – Nyheter Sport Nöje TV
Expressen. Retrieved on 24 May 2013. Youths also threw rocks and glass bottles at a Metro station in

Vällingby Vällingby () is a suburban district in Västerort in the western part of Stockholm Municipality, Sweden. History The agricultural land where the modern suburb now stands, has a history stretching some 2,000 years back (i.e. at least twi ...

, breaking windows on several Metro trains and threatening staff at the station before leaving the scene. After midnight, several small fires were reported in

Tensta Tensta is a district in Spånga-Tensta borough, Stockholm, Sweden. There are about 6,000 apartments in TenstaFarsta Farsta is a district in the borough with the same name in southern Stockholm. Farsta is located about eight kilometers south of Stockholm city. The district neighbours to Hökarängen, Sköndal, Larsboda, Farsta Strand and Fagersjö. It is al ...

. At least two schools, a police station and 15 cars were set ablaze. Thirteen people were arrested that night and the following morning. By 24 May, the disturbances in Stockholm had subsided. Parents and volunteers patrolling the streets helped calm Stockholm's multi-ethnic suburbs. In the meantime, the disturbances had spread to other parts of Sweden, including

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

, while the situation in Husby where the trouble originated was reported to be under the complete control of law enforcement officers. During the night, police arrested 18 right-wing extremists and confiscated their vehicle, which was full of weapons, only a few hours after they had joined the unrest. During the following weekend, Stockholm was mostly calm, with little or no disturbances. On Monday 27 May, disturbances flared up again near Stockholm. Several cars belonging to local home care were set on fire in Lysekil in the west of Sweden. A

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

Solna Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of the ...

was set on fire as well, although the police could not confirm that the incident was related to the riots. In

Växjö Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...

in the district of Araby, several tyres were burned and stones were thrown at police. On Tuesday 28 May, Stockholm police reported that the situation was "back to normal" with no disturbances, only a few torched cars, and no reported disturbances in other Swedish towns either.

Damage

In total, 150 vehicles were set on fire—most belonging to immigrants—and total damages were at least 63m Swedish kronor ($9.5m).

Response

Government response

On the afternoon of Tuesday, 21 May, the

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...

Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, and former politician who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014, and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He ...

announced: "We've experienced two nights of serious unrest, vandalism and an intimidating atmosphere in Husby, and there is a risk that it will continue. We have groups of young men who think that they can and should change society with violence. Let's be clear about this: this is not acceptable. We cannot be intimidated by violence." The Minister for Justice

Beatrice Ask Eva Carin Beatrice Ask (born 20 April 1956) is a Swedish politician and a member of the Moderate Party. She has served as Governor of Södermanland County since 1 January 2020. Ask served as member of the Swedish Riksdag for Stockholm Municip ...

said a report should be filed detailing any incidents of mistreatment by police.

Police response

Youths threw stones at police officers, which resulted in three injuries on the night of Sunday 19 May, and seven on the following night. The police adopted a policy of non-intervention during the disturbances, explaining that their goal was to "do as little as possible". Seven youths were arrested on Monday night, and eight were arrested on 21 May. Ulf Johansson, deputy police chief for Stockholm County, stated on 23 May that "every injury is a tragedy, every burned-out car is a failure for society... but Stockholm is not burning. Let's not exaggerate the situation."

Public reaction

Husby residents were angered by the rioters, because of the damage to property and Husby's reputation. Some expressed the belief that the earlier shooting incident had been exploited by the youths to start trouble. They also blamed the lack of involvement from parents. Many left-wingers in Sweden blamed the trouble on the neo-liberal political shift in Sweden during the previous decade, which had widened class differences. The disturbances also started a debate amongst Swedes over minority integration, many of whom had arrived as a result of the country's asylum policies. On 25 May, rap artist

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

released "Budskapet", a Swedish version of the 1982 song " The Message" by

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, S ...

, as a commentary on the disturbances. While responding to the fires caused by the rioters, firefighters also became the target of stone-throwers. One firefighter who was injured, Mattias Lassén, subsequently posted an open letter to the rioters on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page, asking "Why did you do this to me? I too have a family that wants to see me again, just like you!". His post quickly went viral.

Analysis

The justice minister,

, said "Social segregation is a very serious cause of many problems." Reports suggested that the unrest had been fed by substandard schools and an undercurrent of racism, unemployment, a failure to integrate minorities, and rising social inequality. Some cited the riots as evidence of the failure of Sweden's immigration policy. Others referred to the recent

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

report that showed a rapidly widening gap between Sweden's rich and poor. After '' Aftonbladet'' published figures indicating that 13 of the 16 youths arrested had police records, the Swedish criminologist Jerzy Sarnecki stated that he was not surprised. Sarnecki believes that the disturbances had not been caused by one single incident, but that the rioters were expressing a general dissatisfaction with unemployment levels, standards of education and the police service, and drew parallels with the

2011 England riots The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police ...

. A local political group, Megafonen, had claimed at the start of the disturbances that they were cause by the recent shooting by police of a 69-year-old man in Husby who had allegedly threatened to kill the officers with a machete. Sarnecki dismissed this idea, saying that it was mostly an excuse. Psychologist Arnulf Kolstad argued that the disturbances were an understandable and necessary reaction to social segregation. He suggested that they should be welcomed like most Nordic people welcomed the

Arab spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stockholm riots 2013 fires in Europe 2013 in Sweden 2013 riots 2010s in Stockholm Fires in Sweden Neo-Nazism in Sweden Race riots in Sweden Riots and civil disorder in Sweden Protests in Sweden Protests in the European Union May 2013 events in Europe Metropolitan Stockholm