A racist sniper on the loose (in Sweden attacking immigrants)

[pampango]

Source: MacCleans

The success of the far right, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats party in the recent elections shocked many Swedes, and brought thousands out to protest against the policies the party espouses. Now it appears someone has been taking racist sentiment to a new level, further eroding what was once a proud tradition of tolerance in this Nordic country. Last week in Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city, two female migrants from eastern Europe were shot and wounded through their apartment window. Two more shootings quickly followed, the latest in a long string of attacks over the past year that police fear is the work of a single sniper motivated by racism. Indeed, just prior to last week’s shooting, the authorities had issued a grim warning: “If you have dark skin you should be extra cautious,” said a police spokesman. “If you are in the risk group you should avoid lonely places like bus stops at night.”

Malmö police have solicited the aid of a veteran detective who played a major role in the apprehension of another anti-immigrant sniper who terrorized the Stockholm area. Those attacks took place in the early 1990s—when the far right had also been making political inroads.

Read more: http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/04/a-racist-sniper-on-the-loose/

[Bitwit1234]

1. There is someone shooting at military installations in Virginia

But since it is Virginia the authorities won't do anything. They don't even have an investigation now on who tried to blow up that representatives brother's house. And the media let it drop.

[No Elephants]

2. The Eastern European race? How dark are Eastern Europeans?

Why do I get the feeling the something has been left usnaid?

[smirkymonkey]

3. Are they Roma?

I haven't heard about a problem in Sweden, but I don't really know of any "dark skinned" Eastern Europeans. Kind of strange.

[Bragi]

4. Chechen Muslims? /eom

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. It's not just Eastern Europeans that are the targets

It seems to be anyone with connections to immigrants - and a dark skin is the most obvious visual identifier for the gunman to use, I suppose:

The apparent murder victim was a 20-year-old woman named Trez West Persson, who was shot in a parked car with her immigrant boyfriend on 10 October last year. Since he was newly released from prison, the police originally assumed he was a gang target, but they now suppose the pair was attacked because of the colour of his skin.

Suspected targets since then have included one of the city's mosques and a police station. In another incident, a group of African men were fired on outside one of the city's swimming pools. In all, police said there was no obvious motive in 19 of the 50 shootings recorded in the city since last October.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/25/gang-swedish-police-racist-attacks

"I'm almost afraid of turning on the light in my apartment at night now," Shukrije Berisha, who lives in the same building, told Svenska Dagbladet.

In similar incidents, two men of an "ethnic minority background" recently were shot while waiting at bus stops, according to police.
...
Basi Hassan, one of the bus stop victims, told TV4, "I was standing here at the bus stop when I suddenly heard a shot. I don't know where it came from. Then I saw my own blood and I started feeling dizzy."

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/26/sweden.serial.shooter/

The results of analysis of DNA believed to belong to the suspect were not likely until next week, Lidehall said.

The DNA samples were taken from the clothing and skin of an Iranian-born tailor who was involved in a scuffle with a man outside his shop after a shot was fired on Saturday.

http://www.news24.com/World/News/Police-search-for-sniper-in-Sweden-20101026

So there have been Africans, Muslims, a woman with a typical Swedish name but a dark skinned boyfriend; an Iranian, someone with a typical Middle Eastern name, and "Shukrije Berisha", a name I can't make a guess at the origin of. The guy want to shoot immigrants, it seems, and that includes Eastern Europeans along with others.

[petronius]

6. I half expected that this would be a review of the Wallander episode

Scary stuff, hope they get the person quickly...

[newscott]

7. Me too.