© Christine Olsson / Reuters
A man suspected of having neo-Nazi links has confessed to driving his car into a crowd of rejected Iraqi asylum seekers who were protesting against their deportation in the Swedish city of Malmo. Police have opened a hate crime investigation.
The man, 22, whose identity has not been revealed, admitted that he had driven his car into the crowd of asylum seekers, who rallied outside the Swedish Migration Agency office in Malmo on two occasions last weekend.
The perpetrator's car had a Nazi symbol on it, police confirmed to local media. A video
obtained by Swedish national public broadcaster SVT Nyheter shows the car with a Nazi eagle and swastika on its front.
No one was injured in the two incidents, which took place on Saturday, June 10, and on the evening of Sunday, June 11.
However, during the latter incident the assailant eventually crashed into a tree after driving over a number of placards and banners placed by the protesters in front of the migration office.
The man was then forced to barricade himself in the car as it was surrounded by angry protesters, who kept him inside until police arrived. He was then detained and questioned.
"He said he's doing it to make a point. That he does not think they [Iraqis] should be in the country," Sandra Persson, a police investigator,
told the Swedish
Aftonbladet daily, adding that it was a "clear hate crime."
Lars Foerstell, a press communications officer at the Malmo police department, also confirmed that the man had two knives in his possession, adding that he had also used pepper spray against the protesters.
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