An anti-Islam protest in Sweden ended in violence after counter demonstrators broke through a police line and threw stones, bottles and fireworks at the anti-Islam march. Police spokesman Kjell Lendgren was reported as saying that around 400 “leftists had gathered to heckle the 100-strong demonstration,” which had been rallying to bring attention to what it argues is the Islamization of Europe. In the counter protest, the local activists called for tolerance and warned of a rise in fascism. They referred to the nationalist groups as “Breivik's foot-soldiers” – a reference to Norwegian ultra-conservative terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway last year. Lendgren said the leftists shouted and blew vuvuzelas to drown out anti-Islam and nationalist speeches, but then started throwing bottles and lit fireworks at police, injuring two officers. He said 10 activists were arrested, after which the situation calmed down. Nationalist groups such as the English Defense League were instrumental in organizing the anti-Islam event, which was described on the anti-Islam European Freedom Initiative's website as the “first worldwide counter-jihad action.”
