Youths set cars aflame and threw stones at police and emergency services for the third consecutive night in the poor suburbs of Stockholm, one of Europe’s wealthiest capitals.
Rioters Tuesday night attacked a police station in Jakobsberg, damaged two schools, and set on fire an arts and crafts center, in spite of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s call for people to “pitch in to restore calm.”
It’s believed the riots are linked to the death of a local man, shot dead by police on May 13 after reportedly threatening them with a machete. Since then riots or related incidents have been reported in nine suburbs, especially Hubsy, home to about 12,000 people.
“We’ve had two nights with great unrest, damage, and an intimidating atmosphere in Husby and there is a risk it will continue, said Reinfeldt on Tuesday.
“We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence,” he added. “Let’s be clear: this is not okay. We cannot be ruled by violence.”
Officers dispatched to Husby have been accused of using racist language against residents, calling them “monkeys,” “rats” and “niggers” on Sunday night, when at least one hundred cars were torched.
“I can understand the police officers were stressed, but this language is unacceptable, and unfortunately nothing new,” Rami al-Khamisi, founder of the Megafonen youth organization, told The Local.
Though Sweden offers relatively generous welfare benefits to its citizens, and living standards are high compared to the rest of Europe, not everyone has shared in Sweden’s success. Unemployment for native born citizens is at 6 percent, compared to those born outside, which it at 16 percent.
Welfare benefits have slowly eroded since the 1990s, and Sweden has the fastest growth in inequality compared to other advanced Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies. Sweden also suffers, like other European nations, long-term youth unemployment, especially in immigrant-populated areas.
This article originally was published at Global Post.