Swedish police in cavalry charge at anti-Nazi protesters who 'attacked officers and their horses'
- At least five people have been injured at a protest in Malmo, Sweden
- Thousands gathered to protest against neo-nazi party having a meeting
- Mounted police galloped into crowd to disperse protesters on the street
- Witnesses say police rode over activists lying injured on the ground
- Activists attacked police and horse with flares, rocks and bats
At least five people have been injured after mounted police rode into a large group of anti-Nazi protestors during a demonstration in Malmo, Sweden.
More than 2,000 people had turned up to protest against a meeting held by the neo-Nazi Svenskarnas Parti (The Swedes’ Party) in a square near the Oresund Bridge which connects Sweden and Denmark on Saturday afternoon.
The protest soon turned violent, with activists attacking police and horses, and in an attempt to disperse the crowd, police rode in full gallop through a group of 300-400 people.
Riot: Mounted police ride through counter-demonstrators protesting against an election meeting arranged by the neo-nazi party Svenskarnas Parti, at a square in Malmo
Neo-nazi party Svenskarnas Parti had arranged a meeting in a square in the Limhamn area of Malmoe on Saturday ahead of the national elections next month.
Although party leader Stefan Jacobson only attracted a few dozen supporters, thousands turned up to protest against the meeting, including hundreds from Denmark.
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Up to 400 police officers had been called in to keep the peace, including backup from Stockholm and Gothenburg, surrounding the square where the meeting was held.
An estimated 2,000 anti-Nazi protesters marched on the square from a nearby park and police struggled to control the large crowd.
The protest soon descended into chaos, a police spokesperson said, and a number of demonstrators turn on police and attacking staff and horses, throwing rocks and flares.
Unrest: At least five people were injured after the demonstration turned into chaos and activists began attacking police and horses with flares, rocks and bottles
Mounted action: The police repeatedly rode in full gallop into a crowd of 300-400 people, witnesses said
To control the commotion, police moved in on the protesters with horses and armed vehicles, one of which ran over an activist.
A group of people blocking a street refused to disperse, after which mounted police rode in full gallop into the crowd.
According to witnesses the man seen in the pictures being trampled did not have time to escape the horses and injured his head and jaw.
‘I stood right there when it happened,’ Aftonbladet’s reporter Susanna Nygren said.
’It is a narrow street where they rode ten horses abreast in full gallop towards a group of about 300 to 400 people. Police kept repeating this.’
Unrest: The protest took place in the Limhamn area of Malmo, not far form the Oresund Bridge that connects Sweden and Denmark
Another witness told Aftonbladet that police had ridden over a man, only to return and ride over him again as he lay injured in the street.
Police confirmed that five people had been taken to hospital and one man had been slightly injured after being run over by a police van.
'This has not been very much about politics,' Scania Police's spokesperson Ewa-Gun Westford said.
'The focus switched to violence very quickly and people have been throwing flares and bottles on police and hit horses with sticks and bats.'
Svenskarnas Parti are not expected to win any seats in parliament in next month’s election, and when the party moved off the square, the crowd dispersed.
'It goes without saying that we are not happy with what happened today,' Westford said.
Six people were detained for violence, public disturbance or masking themselves. It was not immediately clear whether they would be charged.
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