The news of the Rinkeby riots on Monday reached foreign media after President Trump mentioned the event, comparing the riots to the terrorist attacks in Nice, Brussels and Paris.
Regardless of whether this parallel is right or wrong, the statement annoyed the Swedish Government and the Swedish mainstream media, who immediately took advantage of the comparison in an effort to again defame the American president, something Swedish news consumers are used to every day, and I really mean every day.
New York Times: Riots Break Out in Stockholm Suburb, Drawing Attention to Trump’s Remarks
Swedish media has previously – for many years – been fixated on defaming Vladimir Putin, but after the US elections, the media has changed its focus to also disgrace Mr Trump. No wonder the Swedish population no longer believe in mainstream media as they used to do, according to an international poll where only Turkey scored lower than Sweden in trust ranking. People even experience the established media channels as having transgressed into propaganda outlets for EU and Washington policies.
So what about Rinkeby tonight? Any riots? Any terrorism? No, nothing big to report. But the previous night there were riots, ten cars were burning, and real bullets were fired. Are these riots terrorism? Not really. Where citizens of Rinkeby were afraid, yes, some were certainly terrified.
Fox News: Trump may have been unclear, but Sweden experiencing a migrant crime wave
So stone-throwing rioters, burning cars and fired bullets of the expanding killing type that the police in Sweden use are all together definitely terrifying to normal people. In that sense, Mr Trump has a minor point in comparing the Rinkeby events with the full-blown terrorism in Nice and Paris.
Maybe he also had in mind the memory of the suicide bomber who killed himself in Stockholm in 2010. The FBI estimated that up to 40 people would have been killed if the bombing had been successful. Just two people were hospitalised.
Last night, NewsVoice visited Rinkeby and observed how small groups of policemen, riot police and guards patrolled the area side by side with citizen initiatives. There was no violence during the visit hours, but there was a slight tension in the air.
The Swedish government claimed in the CNN report (below) that the riots have nothing to do with immigrants, but it’s hard to tell who is who and how new to the area the residents are without investigating exactly who was responsible for setting ten cars on fire and throwing stones at the police.
Since no one was arrested during the riots, the question is still floating. This entails that the Swedish government can use this uncertainty to interpret the situation in any way suitable, depending on the current policy.
By Torbjorn Sassersson, editor NewsVoice.se
