– It’s incredibly boring. We were actually supposed to drive home to Eidsvoll in that one today, says Daniel and points to the remains of a BMW 3 Series.
It is 15 years since he moved from Navestad in the Swedish city of Norrköping to Norway, where he met his wife Rebecca (28).
He connects Navestad with football parking, security, and good neighbors.
TV 2 in Sweden: – The police call the riots an attack on democracy
– I see in the media that there are no Swedes living here, and that it is a “no go” zone. I do not recognize myself in that. Before, it was maybe a little apple slang and boyish, so what is happening here now, I do not understand, says Daniel.
Scary videos
Daniel had not been home with his family for three years when he, Rebecca and their two daughters aged five and seven took this year’s Easter holiday to Norrköping.
On Sunday, he was reading about the riots in several Swedish cities when he suddenly saw his own car in a news article.
– LITTLE AGAIN: Daniel and his family have looked through the car wreck for traces of their personal belongings – without finding anything. Photo: Per Haugen / TV 2
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– I called the police, and they said I just had to stay indoors. If the car was already on fire, it was too late to do anything anyway, says Daniel.
The photos and videos that the 29-year-old has seen in the last 24 hours, after that About 200 protesters attacked police on Sunday afternoonhe experiences as frightening.
Videos show several protesters throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, a type of homemade firebomb, at police.
– It’s going to go wrong
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Similar riots have taken place in recent days in Linköping, Jönköping, Malmö and Stockholm.
According to the police, 16 civilians were injured during the riots – three of them were hit by the police warning shots in Norrköping. None of them should be seriously injured.
Chief of Police: – Fear for life
At the same time, the number of injured police officers is as many as 26 people, and 20 police cars have been destroyed.
On Monday, National Police Chief Anders Thornberg held a press conference where he told that police believe criminal gangs are behind it the attacks on the police.
Although the riots of Easter have been triggered by a rage against the right-wing radical politician Rasmus PaludanThornberg is clear that what Sweden is experiencing now are not ordinary counter-protesters.
That view is supported by Jan Hofvenstam, assistant operations manager for the ongoing riots in the Police Region East, who is open about the fact that his colleagues think it has been tough to go to work at Easter.
– It is local, young criminal men who expose us to this. For us, it is urgent and tough. When colleagues say they fear for their own lives, it is incredibly serious.
– NEW EVERYDAY LIFE: After more than 30 years in Politregion Öst, Jan Hofvenstam believes that serious crime has unfortunately skyrocketed in recent years. Photo: Per Haugen / TV 2
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– Are there some who say they do not want to go to work?
– I can imagine that it is, but at the same time it is the case that we take care of each other and have an organization that helps. We must go out and defend democracy.
– Must stop new recruitment
Hofvenstam has worked in the Police Region East for over 30 years. He thinks the police have a tough job ahead of them.
– We have socio-economic problems, and we have a lot of serious crime with shootings, drugs and other serious crimes in these areas.
– How challenging is it to overcome the problems?
– We have to think long-term. We have worked hard and taken many, but we must also stop new recruitment into criminal gangs, he says.
However, Hofvenstam believes that the police have control of the situation in the short term. He does not think there will be similar riots in Sweden in the next few days.
– We follow the development all the time and patrol the area and are prepared if it should escalate. The intelligence information we have now indicates that it will not get out of control.
For Daniel, who on Monday rented a rental car and set course for his home country Norway, it is sad to read about negative news from the city where he grew up.
– For me, it is important to be told that this is not Navestad. I will not try to guess what happened or why this happened, but what I do know is that there are a lot of nice people living here.
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