Ben Hamilton
January 25th, 2021

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The effigy in question

MPs have been quick to condemn violent clashes between anti-lockdown demonstrators and police in central Copenhagen on Saturday night – the third time in consecutive weeks that protests have been staged – not long after an effigy of PM Mette Frederiksen was set alight (see video below).

Again organised by Men in Black, the demonstration attracted at least a thousand people, and again police claim that known members of the city’s football hooligan community were present. An estimated 100 people engaged with police on the night.

Eske Vinther-Jensen, a public affairs adviser, has told DR that those in attendance are a “mix of corona deniers, vaccine opponents, conspiracy theorists, alternative health professionals and fierce critics of the government’s handling of the Coronavirus Crisis”.

Several arrests
Five people were arrested on Saturday,  and then subsequently charged with violence/disturbing public order and released, and there yet may be more arrests, according to Copenhagen Police.

And three more have been arrested in connection with the effigy of the PM, which included threatening messages, such as “She must and should be killed”, before it was hung up at Julius Thomsens Plads by Forum in Frederiksberg.

The scene of the incineration has since been searched forensically for clues.

An American influence?
Pia Kjærsgaard from Dansk Folkeparti called the demonstrators who clashed with the police “violent fascists”, while Konservative’s Naser Khader said their actions were a “disgrace” that should be “punished harshly”.

The justice minister, Nick Hækkerup was concerned that the burning of the PM’s effigy “mirrored movie scenes in which somebody has been lynched”.

“It’s a little too much like what happened in Washington DC 14 days ago, and we should not take inspiration from that,” added Khader.