How Sweden's youth homes nurtured killers, creating Europe's gun crime capital
The killer was only 14 and had lived in youth homes as a ward of the authorities since he was eight.
A year ago, a gang helped the boy escape, put him up in a hotel and gave him cannabis, food and new clothes. Six days later, gang members told him it was time to repay them for their kindness. They had a job for him.
Together with another youth, the boy, who as a juvenile cannot be identified, shot dead a 33-year-old Hells Angels biker. He was convicted by a court which described the case as a gangland contract killing.
As he was too young to be sentenced, he was handed back to social services and sent to another youth home.
Sweden has long prided itself on one of the world's most generous social safety nets, with a state that looks after vulnerable people at all stages of life.
But these days it also has another distinction: by far the highest per capita rate of gun violence in the EU. Last year 55 people were shot dead in 363 separate shootings in a country of just 10 million people. By comparison, there were just six fatal shootings in the three other Nordic countries - Norway, Finland and Denmark - combined.
Sweden, which is currently experiencing an outbreak of gum violence, has 62 fatal shootings in 2022. To put that in perspective, adjusted for population, the equivalent would be 2000 shootings in the states.
Actual number of fatal, non-suicide shootings in the states? 20000.
Can you Yanks just piss the fuck off. There is zero need to make this about you. 62 fatal shootings is a a tragedy with fighting against
Did you reply to the wrong comment?
Difference being nobody is going around claiming the US is perfect. You ever talk to a european? They have an inability to admit anything bad happens there, generally, and if it did it was merica's fault of course.
Don't know which Europeans you've been talking to, but I live in Europe and we certainly have a lot of complaints to go around.
A lot of them seem to be that way, likely terminally online ones of course.
You seem cool though!
We get like that around Americans, trying to teach you how to complain about your own country. For some reason, you're not receptive to that kindness.
Oh I complain about the US a lot, as does everyone here on lemmy and everyone I know IRL, but europeens think they can feel superior for being little middle of the road countries the size of Michigan and forget we're the size of the whole ass EU meaning that's the correct comparison, which your "superiority" just doesn't cover. Sure, NL may be fine, just try to be a black guy in the wrong berlin neighborhood though, I've heard some interesting stories about the "totally not nazi" police there. I also hear France is becoming Nazis, and sweden has a lot of gun crime and the occasional grenade attack, we don't even have those in America lol, certainly sounds like we all have enough problems, but nope, you idiots have to pretend you're better because deep down you know you'll never be. Oh well.
I know I know the US totally compares well in terms of police violence and prisoners per capita. To North Korea. It also compares well in terms of gang violence -- to Haiti or Mexico.
Meanwhile, Germans consider it a national embarrassment that the Swiss and Japanese have better train systems. All a matter of perspective.
Hmm the Germans don't keep the trains running on time anymore? Interesting, you'd think if they kept one thing from 1933-1945 it would have been that instead of the literal nazi police members they still have. Strange. Funny you guys also have one of the sex trafficking capitols of the world, Romania. Btw of how are the UK racists who insist that "they hate the 'gypsies' for their culture" which is exactly what the racists say over here about the "thugs" and their "rap music?"
Foh lmao, we both have problems and you're just as delusional as the nationalistic dickheads I'm always bitching at over here, but you pick an area the size of one of our states to be nationalistic about which lets be real is fucking sad.
For someone who claims to be able to complain about their own country you're doing awfully little of it.
Also, no, the Nazis didn't make the trains run on time. Unless you count animal wagons, that is.
Whoops my bad, that was Mussolini, Italy is in the EU too though and so was Franco's Spain. I hear they still have a problem with fascists too, weird trend developing here. Btw fucking wild you'd say "animal trains," of course they also compared Jewish people to animals so I shouldn't be surprised, I guess that's why you're brushing the whole current nazi problem aside.
And wait I thought we could only talk shit and pretend our countries are the best, which the US is and it's perfect, there are no problems. (That's you, that's what you sound like.)
Maybe because they actually used animal trains. Cattle wagons. Something like that it's not like I'm a native speaker. The type of train carriage built for purposes of transporting livestock.
What did you expect, 1st class accommodations to Auschwitz?
...and no, Mussolini didn't get the trains running on time, either. The Swiss and Japanese do, though.
Who do you mean with "we", here? US and China? Oh, Bavaria. Bavaria also definitely qualifies.
Coulda went with murder trains or something less racist, really. Pretty fucked up dude.
Suuuree suuure which evil fascist dictator did it is really the point, ignore the "fascist" bit, that's in the past, and ignore the "current" bit too because that would be admitting you have a problem and you can't do that, you have to pretend you're perfect, because you have nothing going for you other than
whitearyanEuropeen "supremacy."You're a reactionary, nationalistic, delusional, and seemingly racist person, seek help.
I don't think having trains specialised to murder people in makes much difference to using cattle wagons to transport people to camps specialised to murder people in. In the grand scheme of things, in both cases you're still constructing something specifically to murder people in.
Oh no, plenty bad happens here. Just that when comparing to the problems the US has... Yeah, it's a good reminder of how well everything works over here, despite the problems.
Of course, plenty of good happens here too, it's just that it doesn't fit the "if it bleeds it leads" business model so you never hear about it. Some areas here are just as safe as some areas of europe, some areas of europe are just as unsafe as some areas here.
This may surprise you to learn, but the US is comparable to the size of the entire EU, and as a result there are similar variances in safety between the two.
Er, I mean, US GOOD EUROPE BAD. Did I fill my role correctly there after that silly nuance break?
The US is overall a shithole masquerading as a first world country, only on the basis that the US is lucky enough to have had Europe use the dollar to rebuild after WWII. You'd have to squint incredibly hard to find any place comparable to Europe in the US, and then you'd still be stuck with car centric neighbourhoods and healthcare that'll put you in a life debt for stubbing your toe.
Blah blah blah tribalism is good.
Tldr