COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – A dozen people were detained during a right-wing demonstration in Sweden’s second-largest city Saturday that left a police officer and several others injured.
The rally by the Nordic Resistance Movement in Goteborg featured an estimated 600 people marching in formation in all-black outfits. Some wore helmets and held shields, while others hoisted the movement’s green and white flags.
Police had posted flyers before the event warning people not to act in a way reminiscent of the German Nazi’s “National Socialist demonstrations in the 1930s and 1940s.”
Police officers control counter-demonstrators ahead of the demonstration from the Nordic Resistance Movement in central Goteborg, Sweden, Saturday Sept. 30, 2017. The authorities say the Nordic Resistance Movement expects some 1,000 people to march Saturday while as many as 10,000 people could counter-demonstrate. (Adam Ihse/TT via AP)
NMR, which promotes an openly anti-Semitic doctrine, originally sought to pass near a downtown synagogue during the march, which coincided with Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day of the year.
Swedish courts intervened and shortened the route to less than one kilometer (0.6 mile.) The rally’s ending time also was cut by an hour to avoid clashing with a football game at a nearby arena.
Counter-demonstrators threw fireworks and attempted several times to break police lines, allegedly to confront NMR members who also tried to get past riot police. Several were detained on suspicion of rioting, police said.
Police say those arrested included one person accused of kicking an officer in the face and two others for carrying knives.
Some 20 people, mostly Danes and Germans, were stopped as they arrived in Sweden to take part in the demonstration about 400 kilometers (248 miles) southwest of Stockholm.
Goteborg was scarred by violent demonstrations in 2001 on the sidelines of a European Union summit.
Police officers use a spray toward members of the Nordic Resistance Movement during a demonstration in central Goteborg, Sweden, Saturday Sept. 30, 2017. The authorities say the Nordic Resistance Movement expects some 1,000 people to march Saturday while as many as 10,000 people could counter-demonstrate. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT via AP)
Police officers clash with members of the Nordic Resistance Movement during a demonstration in central Goteborg, Sweden, Saturday Sept. 30, 2017. The authorities say the Nordic Resistance Movement expects some 1,000 people to march Saturday while as many as 10,000 people could counter-demonstrate. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT via AP)
Police officers prevent members of the Nordic Resistance Movement walking along a street during a demonstration in central Goteborg, Sweden, Saturday Sept. 30, 2017. The authorities say the Nordic Resistance Movement expects some 1,000 people to march Saturday while as many as 10,000 people could counter-demonstrate. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT via AP)
Police officers clash with members of the Nordic Resistance Movement during a demonstration in central Goteborg, Sweden, Saturday Sept. 30, 2017. The authorities say the Nordic Resistance Movement expects some 1,000 people to march Saturday while as many as 10,000 people could counter-demonstrate. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT via AP)
Members of the Nordic Resistance Movement march in central Goteborg, Sweden, Saturday Sept. 30, 2017. The authorities say the Nordic Resistance Movement expects some 1,000 people to march Saturday while as many as 10,000 people could counter-demonstrate. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT via AP)
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