On Wednesday, we brought you the tragic story of 22-year-old Alexandra Mezher, who was stabbed to death by a Somali migrant child in a Swedish asylum center for unaccompanied refugee children.
Mezher’s death served as a poignant reminder to the country’s politicians that the move to take in 163,000 asylum seekers fleeing the horrors of the Mid-East’s many proxy wars isn’t without risk.
The stabbing comes at a particularly delicate time for Swedish authorities. Earlier this month, Nyheter Idag released an investigative report alleging prominent Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter sought to conceal from the public a wave of sexual assaults at a youth festival and concert in central Stockholm’s Kungsträdgården last August.
Dagens Nyheter denied the allegations, saying it was in fact Swedish police that were responsible for the coverup.
Meanwhile, “gangs” of Moroccan migrant children have commandeered the main train station in Stockholm, where they plunder, grope, and otherwise wreak havoc upon helpless Swedes. Or something.
And it’s not just Sweden. There have been hundreds of reported sexual assaults across the bloc this month and so far, the “best” solution officials can come up with is a kind of blame the victim strategy articulated by Cologne mayor Henriette Reker who suggested that it is German women’s responsibility to keep themselves from getting raped by staying an “arm’s length” away from would-be attackers.
This week we got another example of officials effectively blaming the victim, this time in Denmark where a teenager who used pepper spray on an assailant will be fined for deploying an illegal substance.
The alleged attack occurred “near an asylum center” and according to the girl, was perpetrated by an “dark-skinned English speaking man who knocked her down and tried to undress her.”
“She was later warned by police that the pepper spray she used on him was illegal for private citizens to possess, and that she would face a £50 fine,” The Telegraph writes.
“It is illegal to possess and use pepper spray, so she will likely to be charged for that,” a police spokesperson said.
"Numerous readers wrote in the comments section on TV Syd’s story about the incident that they would be willing to pay the girl’s fine," The Local says. "The man who attacked the 17-year-old fled from the scene and has not been charged."
According to the Copenhagen Post, more Danes are traveling to Germany to buy pepper spray than ever before.
“Sales have really exploded after the New Year and the attacks in Cologne,” an owner of a weapons store in the border town of Flensborg, said. “In January, we’ve had 50-60 percent more Danish customers than usual.”
You'll recall that pepper spray sales are off the charts in Germany since the attacks in Cologne on New Year's Eve as are Google searches for the weapon.
But don't be fooled says Anders Rasmussen, a prevention specialist at the Danish Crime Prevention Council, pepper spray may be used as a defensive weapon in some cases, but if legalized in Denmark, people will "quickly" start a non-lethal arms race with one another.
"Pepper sprays give a false sense of safety," Rasmussen told The Post. "They can also be used as an offensive weapon, which may quickly develop into a sort of armed competition between civilians."
Yes, "a sort of armed competition between civilians" who would presumably try to stockpile mace in a dangerous game of pepper spray one-upmanship. One commenter - a Frank Silbermann - is incredulous:
Good question, Frank.
We wonder if Rasmussen would point to 17-year-old girls' usage of pepper spray on would-be assailants as an example of how dangerous society can get once you allow "civilians" to carry mace.
We close with the following screengrab from US News & World Report: