Woman Who Stood Up To The Racist Thugs With Gesture Of Defiance Speaks Of Her Anger
The image of her facing down hundreds of neo-Nazis has been shared around the world.
Now Tess Asplund has spoken of the anger that drove her show of defiance.
The anti-racism activist raised her fist as she stood face to face with one of the leaders of a demonstration of 200 far-right extremists in the Swedish city of Borlänge.
She admitted that she had stood in their path “without thinking” out of anger.
The 42-year-old, who lives in Stockholm, believes the group was spreading hate and should not have been allowed to demonstrate in the first place.
“They are Nazis,“ she told The Independent. “They are spreading hate. They want a white area. If they got control of the country they would kick me out, kick my family out.”
The image was captured by photographer David Lagerlöf, who told Norway’s Dagladet: "It resembles the fight between David and Goliath – a little man who stands up against something bigger.”
The Nordic Resistance Movement was granted permission by local officials and police to demonstrate in the city 130 miles north of Stockholm.
The Social Democrat Party, the Left Party and Dalarna Against Racism group, were also allowed to turn out. Reports suggest they outnumbered the neo-Nazi group,
But Miss Asplund said she was still shocked by how many Right-wing extremists there were.
“That’s the scary thing, there were more than 100 of them and that’s too much, that’s scary,” she said.
As for her salute: “I did it because I was so p***** off. I was standing there and I looked at him, and he looked at me. Then the police came and asked me to step away, which is their job of course.”
The raised fist salute has historically a gesture of solidarity and defiance against oppressors worldwide. It became a symbol of the Black Power movement that began during the 1960s in the US.
Nordic Resistance Movement, one of a growing number of Swedish neo-Nazi groups, is a registered political party.
Its website says they aim to establish a Nordic national socialist government in a fight that may require “bloodshed”.
Stefan Dangardt, a police spokesman, defend the decision to allow them to march.
“There is a constitutional law in Sweden to freely express opinions and have meetings,” he told Radio Sweden.
Photo: David David Lagerlöf /PA
