Update: During President Trump’s joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven today, he reminded everyone that he was right about his view of immigration policies in Sweden.
“Now that you spend some time with our prime minister, how do you view Sweden, in general?” the reporter asked.
“What is your take? And also on our immigration politics?”
“Certainly you have a problem with the immigration,” Trump replied.
“It’s caused problems in Sweden. I was one of the first ones to say it. I took a little heat, but that was okay, because I proved to be right.”
* * *
As we detailed earlier, in the latest installment of our focus on Sweden, the New York Times diverted from the establishment media playbook, publishing an astonishing report detailing Sweden’s increasing problem with immigrant gangs using hand grenades and Kalashnikovs in crime sprees across the country — more than a year after the dying liberal paper scolded President Trump for bringing awareness to the issue.
The NYT — which titled the weekend piece “Hand Grenades and Gang Violence Rattle Sweden’s Middle Class,” uncovers the troubling truth of what the mainstream media was not permitted to share with the rest of the world for the past year: weapons of war ended up in the hands of refugee gangs on the streets of Sweden.
Weapons from a faraway, long-ago war are flowing into immigrant neighborhoods here, puncturing Swedes’ sense of confidence and security. The country’s murder rate remains low, by American standards, and violent crime is stable or dropping in many places. But gang-related assaults and shootings are becoming more frequent, and the number of neighborhoods categorized by the police as “marred by crime, social unrest and insecurity” is rising. Crime and immigration are certain to be key issues in September’s general election, alongside the traditional debates over education and health care.
The article centers on the death a 63-year-old man in the town of Varby Gard, a suburb of Stockholm. He was killed in early January after an object on the ground exploded outside a subway station. He had picked up an item believing it was a toy that turned out to be a live hand grenade — killing him instantly.
According to NYT, the M-75 hand grenade was manufactured in vast quantities for the Yugoslav national army and then seized by paramilitaries during the civil war in the 1990s. Each grenade packed with plastic explosives and 3,000 steel balls, is well suited for close combat and urban warfare, and perhaps why it is the weapon of choice of rogue refugee gangs in Sweden.
The NYT says Stockholm’s Police have graphed the hand grenade incidents in the country and have found a troubling relation: out of control hand grenade attacks coincide with the influx of refugees starting in 2015 and beyond:
Affixed to the wall in Mr. Appelgren’s office in Stockholm’s Police Headquarters is a chart showing the increase in the use of hand grenades. Until 2014 there were about a handful every year. In 2015, that number leapt: 45 grenades were seized by the police, and 10 others were detonated. The next year, 55 were seized and 35 detonated. A modest decrease occurred in 2017, when 39 were seized and 21 were detonated.
“I think we’re going to see, if we don’t stop it, more drive-by shootings with Kalashnikovs and hand grenades,” Appelgren warned.
“They throw rocks and bottles at our cars, and they trick us in an ambush. When will it happen that they ambush us with Kalashnikovs? It’s coming,” he added.
Even Linda Staaf, head of intelligence at the Swedish Police National Operations Department (NOA) said, “Research is needed to provide a precise answer on whether the use of hand grenades has increased in Sweden, but we do believe that in part it has become a trend.”
Now the security situation in Sweden is so critical that Prime Minister Stefan Lofven recently said, he will do whatever it takes, including sending in the Swedish Armed Forces to end the horrible gang violence conducted by refugees.
Swedish PM: We could “DEPLOY THE ARMY” to tackle gang criminality in Sweden.
This is a serious admission that something is very wrong in Sweden.
Could this be why they sent out leaflets to 4.7 million households warning people what to do in case of war?https://t.co/tsX8Crl54N pic.twitter.com/xbU3eg2D1X
— PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) January 17, 2018
Last month, we reported that Sweden is preparing to distribute civil defense brochures to some 4.7 million households, warning them about the onset of war. Put two and two together, and it seems the country is gearing up for a civil war on its streets, as the country’s military is preparing to battle heavily armed refugees who have stockpiled hand grenades and Kalashnikovs.
This time last year, Trump drew harsh criticism from mainstream media outlets including the NYT for making common sense observations — linking the mass Muslim immigration wave to an uptick in crime in Sweden.
My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2017
Here is how the NYT called out Trump:
One of his viewers agreed, and in that moment was born a diplomatic incident that illustrates the unusual approach that President Trump takes to foreign policy, as well as the influence that television can have on his thinking. After watching the program, Mr. Trump threw a line into a speech the next day suggesting that a terrorist attack had occurred in Sweden the night before.
Just like that, without white papers, intelligence reports, an interagency meeting or, presumably, the advice of his secretary of state, the president started a dispute with a longtime American friend that resented his characterization and called it false. The president’s only discernible goal was to make the case domestically for his plans to restrict entry to the United States.
The Swedes were flabbergasted.
“We are used to seeing the president of the U.S. as one of the most well-informed persons in the world, also well aware of the importance of what he says,” Carl Bildt, a former prime minister of Sweden, said by email on Monday. “And then, suddenly, we see him engaging in misinformation and slander against a truly friendly country, obviously relying on sources of a quality that at best could be described as dubious.”
One year later, the NYT is now reporting on the same issue it once demonized President Trump for. The concerning factor at play is if the Prime Minister triggers the Swedish Armed Forces to halt the refugee crime spree, which it could very well unfold into a civil war in the no-go zones throughout the country. Sweden’s civil defense is preparing to send out some 4.7 million survival brochures to households warning about the onset of a war. Sweden is a “shithole.”
Last year, when Fox News and Trump noted Sweden’s immigrant crime problem, NYT pushed back. Now, NYT reports on Sweden’s immigrant crime problem. https://t.co/Wo753MCjtd and https://t.co/aPz5IKKMYo pic.twitter.com/H0pHXfNefc
— Byron York (@ByronYork) March 4, 2018