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Danish mother reports Facebook event ‘Kick a Redhead’ to the police
TheCopenhagenPost
February 2nd, 2016
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This article is more than 8 years old.
Mom of two gingers believes ‘fun’ event could result in violence
A mother from Vejle has reported the 18-year-old organiser of ‘Kick a Redhead’ day in Denmark to the police.
Janne Dalsgaard Dam from Vejle, the mother of two redheaded children, was worried that the March 10 event, which had attracted over 5,000 attendees on Facebook before it was shut down, could lead to harm to her children and other ginger-haired people around the country.
Cops not on board
However, the police in Vejle didn’t really see it as an issue for them to investigate.
“The police informed me that it is not a matter that they will look into since in their eyes is not a criminal offence,” Dam told Jyllands-Posten.
“The 18-year-old is certainly a clever, young man, but he is probably also a bit naive and not really able to understand the consequences of what he has started.”
The high school student behind the group said that he only created the event as a joke.
Previous violence
When a group with the same mandate popped up in the US in 2014, three boys were arrested for harassing redheads pupils at a school in California.
In 2013, at least six redheaded students were attacked on their way to school.
Since Facebook shut down the original ‘Kick a Redhead’ group, another event called ‘Kick a Redhead 2.0’ has already popped up and is gathering attendees – 273 at the last count.
“It is fine that Facebook has closed the first event, but unless the police get involved, other groups will keep popping up,” said Dam.
READ MORE: New cybercop unit will monitor ‘extremist’ Facebook groups
An alternative event encouraging Danes to ‘Hug a Redhead’ has been set up for February 11.
The attention garnered by the ‘Kick a Redhead’ campaign led to an even more tasteless group called ‘Slap a Jew’. After numerous complaints by users, that group was shut down.
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