Left-wing events were attacked by masked people

On Wednesday evening, around 50 people had gathered in the foyer of Moment theater in Gubbängen to listen to a lecture organized by the Left Party and the Green Party. Suddenly, several masked men ran in with smoke bombs, says Laura Roselli, a member of the Left Party in Farsta.

– A red smoke spread in the room. Then everyone started running inside, one person was hit in the face, then I didn’t see much more. They were in there for quite a short time, she says.

She says there were indications that someone would attack the event.

– There were a few people there earlier who had walked around. There was also some preparedness because it is an anti-fascist event, says Laura Roselli.

Madeleine from the local The V group tells DN that several people were sprayed in the face.

– It was a stinging spray and two women found it very difficult to breathe. I understood immediately when they came in that they were right-wing extremists. It was unpleasant.

The anti-racist newspaper Expo, which was the first to report on the incident, attended the lecture, as did left-wing activist and writer Mathias Wåg, who was assaulted.

– It was a bit like a piece of sugar laid out where you could count on the flies to come. They had two targets gathered in the same place. Expo lives under a constant threat and I live under a constant threat from these groups, he says from the scene after the attack.

Wåg tells DN that he saw the masked people through the window before they attacked the meeting.

– It is a group of five masked men, I stand in the window and see them and then shout out into the room: “now the Nazis are coming”. Two of the people walk purposefully towards me, they throw a few punches and then they run out.

He says he is not injured after the assault.

– I’m fine, I was lucky in my misfortune. They fed on with probably ten punches.

V leader Nooshi Dadgostar says she is shocked after the attack on the meeting in Gubbängen.

– These are ordinary leftist members who arranged a meeting for the equal value of all people and who have been violently attacked, she tells DN.

Daniel Poohl, CEO of the foundation for Expo, writes in a press release that in recent years there have been warnings about this type of radicalization in right-wing extremist groups.

– It is not only an attack against us and the other people who were at the scene, but against the democratic society where freedom of speech and assembly is a cornerstone, he says.

Police, ambulance and emergency services were called to the scene. Three people had to be taken to hospital, according to the police. No one was deemed to have serious injuries.

A preliminary investigation has been launched into causing danger to others and disturbing public order. The police had not arrested anyone shortly before midnight on Wednesday evening.