The 2013 Husby riots exposed tensions over policing, immigration, and social inequality in Swedish suburbs.
Key Facts
- Riot start date
- 19 May 2013
- Location
- Husby, northern Stockholm
- Police officers injured
- At least 7
- Situation normalized
- 28 May 2013
- Trigger incident
- Police shooting of elderly armed man on 13 May 2013
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
On 13 May 2013, Stockholm police shot and killed an elderly man, reportedly a Portuguese expatriate, who had been armed with a puukko knife in his apartment. Local activist group Megafonen accused police of brutality and a cover-up, framing the victim as a person targeted due to his non-white identity, and called for a demonstration on 15 May.
Beginning on 19 May 2013, several hundred youths rioted in Husby, a heavily immigrant-populated suburb of Stockholm. The disturbances caused property damage, including burned-out cars, and at least seven police officers were injured over the course of roughly nine days of unrest.
Stockholm police declared the situation back to normal on 28 May 2013, with no further rioting and no spread of unrest to other Swedish towns. The riots drew national and international attention to socioeconomic marginalization and policing practices in immigrant-majority Swedish suburbs.
Political Outcome
Riots subsided by 28 May 2013; no formal policy changes reported immediately, but the events intensified debate on immigration integration and police conduct in Sweden.