Pia Marsh
May 12th, 2015

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“I simply repeated the picture I had been told,” says PM (photo: Magnus Fröderberg)

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt maintains she was speaking in good faith when she said, during a press conference with the international press, that security around the attacked synagogue in Copenhagen was strengthened immediately after the attack on Krudttønden.

On Monday, Thorning-Schmidt said in a statement it was not her intention to mislead the public, instead passing the blame onto PET, by which she claims she was “misinformed”.

Questionable security measures
Thorning-Schmidt claims she was misinformed that the police took up positions outside the synagogue “immediately” after the cafe shooting, when in fact extra security was only enforced four hours after the first attack.

“I simply repeated the picture I had been told in the days following the terror attack. Why would I do otherwise?” she told Politiken.

“A large report has now been made on the entire procedure, and there are certainly some areas we can learn from. But we should remember that the most important thing is that the police were at the synagogue when the perpetrator was there,” Thorning-Schmidt continued.

Miscommunication between PM and PET
According to Thorning-Schmidt, PET had numerous opportunities to correct her.

“It should have been corrected as soon as it was discovered I had said something wrong,” said Thorning-Schmidt.

When questioned over when she first became aware that the guard had not been established immediately after the attack at Krudttønden, Thorning-Schmidt replied: “I only became aware of that at the completion of my press conference. Why would I say anything [deliberately] erroneous in my press conference? I related the story that I had been told. I cannot do otherwise, and why should I?”

Despite the unclear information, the prime minister stated that both the police and PET had “displayed excellent work” in the days surrounding the Copenhagen shootings.