Fifty people were arrested as neo-Nazis clashed with counter-protesters in Sweden’s second-largest city.
Hundreds of NMR supporters in black-shirts and heavy black boots marched on Saturday, as membership in a Nazi organization remains legal in Sweden.
Police and NMR members carrying shields clashed after marchers sought to take a route different than what had been planned, resulting in the arrests — including that of the NMR group‘s leader — according to city officials.
Police in Gothenburg documented the arrests of at least 22 people, and noted that one police officer was injured slightly.
Swedish state television SVT reported that an additional 10 people were arrested, citing reports from Gothenburg police.
Police in the city, anticipating violence, called in extra officers from districts around the country, adding some 350 jail beds in a police garage, according to Reuters.
NMR, an extremist Swedish white supremacist group, claims that it is “national socialist,” in reference to Nazi party doctrine, and seeks to stem migration into the Scandinavian country while fighting what they claim to be a “global Zionist elite,” according to the BBC.
Polisen pressar tillbaka folk. #inganazister pic.twitter.com/QmibMi93jz
— Chris Halvorsen (@Chris_Halvorsen) September 30, 2017
Agencies/Canadajournal