Another knife attack at a mall

Two knife attacks took place within days of each other at a large shopping center in Oulu, western Finland. On Tuesday, a teenager assaulted a man of Asian descent, and the act was similar to an attack last week, when a former member of a neo-Nazi group assaulted a boy of foreign descent, police said.

According to local newspaper “Kaleva”, the victim of Tuesday’s attack was a twenty-year-old Asian restaurant worker who was on his way home from his evening shift. He had been living in Oulu for about a year.

The suspect is under 18 years of age; He was caught and may face criminal charges, investigators said. “There are several indications that the attack was racially motivated and the act mirrors last week’s attack,” police said in a statement.

On June 13, a 12-year-old boy of foreign origin was stabbed to death by an approximately 30-year-old man associated with a neo-Nazi organization (Nordic Resistance Movement – PVL). The prisoner – according to media reports – was previously convicted of violent acts, including a knife attack in a library. He has now denied that his actions were motivated by racism.

“In Finnish conditions, an attack on a child in a shopping mall is completely unheard of” – Ari Soronen, head of the KRP criminal police department in Oulu, agreed.

The victims in both attacks survived. Finland’s top officials, led by the president and prime minister, condemned the recent acts of violence. “Reports of knife attacks in Olu are disgusting. There may also be racial motives. Racism has no place in Finland. – said Prime Minister Petteri Orbo, head of the right-wing government.

Youth are victims of violence and perpetrators of violence Deputy Prime Minister Rika Burra, leader of the nationalist Finns Party, and members of her party have been repeatedly criticized for racist statements.

Local newspaper Keskipohjanmaa writes that the Oulu attacks are “the tip of the iceberg of Finnish racism”. Commentators point out that the shocking attacks at the shopping center are not only a recent spate of violence and attempted murders in Oulu, but also their background. Drug trafficking and links with criminal groups from Sweden.

Source: Portal TV Republic / Pop