Riot breaks out in Stockholm neighborhood

Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A riot broke out in the Swedish neighborhood of Rinkeby in northern Stockholm, where riots in 2010 and 2013 also occurred, police said.

The violence on Monday was apparently triggered after police attempted to arrest a man at about 8 p.m. Police said a crowd of youths gathered after word of the arrest spread and began throwing rocks at officers.

Police described Rinkeby as predominantly immigrant, though it wasn't clear who the perpetrators of the violence were.

Within four hours, rioters burned up to eight cars, vandalized several stores and threw rocks at police, police said. A police officer fired a shot in attempts to strike a rioter, but missed his target, police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.

Bystrom said no one was arrested in the riot.

"This kind of situation doesn't happen that often, but it is always regrettable when they happen," Bystrom said.

A photographer was assaulted. He said he was beat up by a crowd of 15 people as he tried to take pictures of the riot.

"I was hit with a lot of punches and kicks both to my body and my head. I have spent the night in hospital," the unidentified photographer for the Dagens Nyheter media outlet said.

The riot occurred days after U.S. President Donald Trump referenced Sweden at a campaign rally in Florida while he spoke about European targets of terrorism. His ambiguous reference was questioned as Sweden had not recently been subject to an attack.

"You look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this?" Trump then said.

Trump later clarified his comment by saying it was in response to a Fox News report on Sweden's crime rate reportedly attributed to refugees and immigration.

The two Swedish police officers interviewed for Fox News by Ami Horowitz on Monday said their testimony was taken out of context. Anders Göranzon, one of the officers, said the interview was about areas with high crime rates and that "there wasn't any focus on migration or immigration."

"We don't stand behind it. It shocked us. He has edited the answers," Göranzon said of the Fox News report. "We were answering completely different questions in the interview. This is bad journalism."

Horowitz told The Guardian he was "pretty sure" he told officers the segment was over immigrant-related crime, also suggesting the officers were coerced to disavow the report under pressure from superiors.