Four men in their 20s, linked to the far-right Aktivklubb Sverige, have been charged with several unprovoked violent acts motivated by racism on a night in August in central Stockholm. One of the men is caught on film making a Hitler salute while fleeing. Researcher Christer Mattsson describes the violence as 'racist pleasure violence'.
The four men are suspected of carrying out a series of attacks at various locations in Stockholm shortly after midnight in August. According to the indictment, the acts were motivated by the victims' race, skin color, or national/ethnic origin. In Telegram chats, they planned to meet at a bar, with one commenting: 'Awesome! A whole gang today!'.
First, they punched and kicked a man, took his cap and headphones, and threatened his friend. Minutes later, another man suffered a severe assault with kicks and punches to the head and body; witnesses heard the perpetrators laughing as the victim lay on the ground. They fled when someone shouted 'police'. On surveillance footage, one is seen making a Hitler salute.
At around 1 a.m., three of the men assaulted a third man on the subway with punches and kicks, attempting to pull him off the train. The morning after, one wrote on Telegram: 'police stormed us'. Days later, they shared a link to an article about racist violence linked to Aktivklubb.
The men are connected to Aktivklubb Sverige (AKS), the Swedish branch of an international network with subgroups like White Boys Stockholm. Sweden's Security Service describes AKS as a platform for radicalizing young men into violence-affirming far-right extremism, featuring racist ideas and strong masculinity norms, but not posing an immediate terror threat. Christer Mattsson, an expert witness and researcher at the University of Gothenburg, notes that today's far-right youth organize more flexibly than before, in subcultural environments without rigid membership. He calls the violence 'extremely severe' and 'racist pleasure violence'.