Support for Lars Hedegaard

There has been a massive outpouring of support for Lars Hedegaard in the wake of yesterday’s failed assassination attempt. Geert Wilders was prominent among those expressing their solidarity when he tweeted: “Murder attempt on my friend and Islam critic Lars Hedegaard this morning in Denmark. My thoughts are with him. Long live Lars!”

Last night and this morning the Scandinavian coverage of yesterday’s events was notable for its omission of any mention of Dispatch International, the newspaper recently launched by Lars Hedegaard and the Swedish journalist Ingrid Carlqvist. (Full disclosure: I do occasional English-language editing for this excellent publication.)

Dispatch tackles issues the Swedish press dares not touch, and does so in Swedish, Danish, and English. It has thus become a thorn in the side of the Swedish establishment, and to a lesser extent the elites in Denmark. It is demonized and denigrated in the Swedish press — in much the same way the Sweden Democrats are — when it is not ostentatiously ignored.

I’m told that the Scandinavian media silence about the existence of Dispatch was broken this morning by BT. The context for the break in the cordon sanitaire was the fact that the Danish police are now tracking a possible “Swedish connection” in their search for the would-be assassins. The story of the Swedish half of the investigation could hardly be told without reference to Dispatch International, since that is the only possible motive that a “Swede” could have for attempting to murder Lars Hedegaard. Thus, the silence has been broken.

I’m also told that a surveillance video of the suspects has now been discovered. There’s no word yet on whether the footage shows them leaping over the fence into the hippopotamus compound of the Copenhagen zoo, as they are reported to have done.

Below are excerpts from the latest English-language report in The Copenhagen Post:

Media and politicians rally around Hedegaard

While Hedegaard’s attacker remains at large, many speculate that his attempted assassination was to silence his controversial views on Islam

Yesterday’s assassination attempt on historian and journalist Lars Hedegaard elicited a strong reaction from Danish media outlets and politicians, who uniformly offered the 70-year-old their support.

Hedegaard is well known for having a low opinion of Islam and in 2010 he was charged with racism after making scathing and derogatory remark about Muslims and Islam in an interview – after being found guilty by the Eastern High Court, he was let off by the Supreme Court last year.

Hedegaard’s gunman posed as mailman before pulling a gun and firing a shot that missed. Hedegaard claims to have fought back against his attacker, who fled after repeatedly fumbling his weapon and now remains at large.

But while the assassin’s motivations remain unknown, Danish media and politicians, including PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Socialdemokraterne), found it hard not to make a connection Hedegaard’s controversial views.

“The attack against Lars Hedegaard is a deplorable action that I highly condemn,” Thorning-Schmidt wrote in a comment to Ritzau. “[But the attack] is even worse if it was an attempt to stop Hedegaard from using his freedom of speech.”

Annette Vilhelmsen, the business minister and the leader of Socialistisk Folkeparti, echoed Thorning-Schmidt.

“Any form of assassination attempt is unacceptable, but political assassinations belong to a category of their own because their goal is not to target an individual person, but rather our entire democracy and freedoms,” Vilhelmsen said. “Lars Hedegaard is a controversial person which is why it’s hard to imagine that the shooting is not politically motivated.”

Liberal Alliance leader Anders Samuelsen went further and argued the attacker had lost their right to remain in Denmark.

“Freedom of speech is a fundamental aspect of our democracy and we will not tolerate situations in which free speech is threatened with violence,” Samuelsen said. “The attacker – regardless of their residency status and ethnicity – ought to be thrown out of the country.”

Danish newspapers also offered Hedegaard support, although Politiken newspaper chose to distance themselves from his message.

“Lars Hedegaard’s world view is as far from Politiken’s as you could imagine,” the newspaper stated in an editorial. “His nonsensical , hateful and degrading statements about Muslims in Denmark are deplorable. But we share the fundamental premise that democratic debate needs to be free and peaceful.”

Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which itself has been the target of politically-motivated attacks since its controversial decision to publish caricatures of Mohammed in 2005, wrote that “no one should be scared away from participating in the debate,” while Berlingske wrote that they stood “shoulder to shoulder with Lars Hedegaard in defence of free speech”.

The assassination attempt quickly made international headlines, particularly in the Netherlands, where Hedegaard has a friend in the controversial anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders, who took to Twitter to voice his support.

“Murder attempt on my friend and Islam critic Lars Hedegaard this morning in Denmark,” Wilders wrote. “My thoughts are with him. Long live Lars!”

Wilders sits on the board of the International Free Press Society, the international branch of the Danish Free Press Society (Trykkefrihedsselskabet) that is chaired by Hedegaard.

[…]

The attack may lead Hedegaard to consider accepting protection from the domestic intelligence agency, PET, which has faced criticism from some sectors of the media for not knowing of the threat against Hedegaard.

Jacob Scharf, the head of PET, responded by conceding that his agency had its limitations.

“PET acknowledges the severity of the attack against the chairman of Trykkefrihedsselskabet, Lars Hedegaard,” Scharf wrote in a press release. “But it will never be possible for PET to offer full protection to people who make controversial statements in the public debate and thereby become potential targets of violent extremism.”

Despite almost losing his life because of his extreme views, Hedegaard remains unrepentant.

“I will not bow down to violence, murder or terror,” Hedegaard told the tabloid Ekstra Bladet. “They will not make me change my opinion or get me to shut up. If I did I might as well just lay down and die, and I’m not prepared to do that.”

The latest police press release stated that they were still searching for a Danish-speaking man described as around 25 years old, 175 to 180 cm tall, with a medium build, Middle-Eastern traits, stubble and medium-long dark curly hair that could be a wig. He was wearing a thin red coat reminiscent of those worn by Post Danmark employees.

Police are urging witnesses in the area of the streets Pelargonievej and Azaleavej between 9am and 12pm to come forward. They are also want home owners or businesses nearby who have CCTV installed to come forward.

See the International Civil Liberties Alliance for a list of media articles and opinion pieces about the attack on Lars Hedegaard.

15 thoughts on “Support for Lars Hedegaard

    • Yes, but it is one thing to say, “I am Spartacus” when the enemy arrives at your door; it is another thing altogether to challenge, “You will have to kill us all!” to the enemy who is scouting targets.

      P.S. I still respect you greatly and wish the best for you. 🙂

      • I don’t see how the “You will have to kill us all” statement hurts us. Islam already wants to kill us all.

        Draw a cartoon they don’t like – you’re a target. Say something unkind about their prophet – you’re a target. Say or do… ANYTHING they don’t like – you’re a target.

        The ground rules Islam is laying down are pretty brutal. They wake up in the morning scouting targets. We either step up to the plate or we don’t.

        • Given that a significant portion of Islamic doctrine is dedicated to treatment of nonmuslims, the fact that we simply exist makes us a target.

        • Fjordman showed that Europeans are the world’s greatest inventors. You even invented guns, only to allow them for people to control you? Yikes.

          Don’t you know you need to get a gun for, uh, hunting? Yeah, that’s the ticket! But I know how brainwashed you are, you won’t listen.

          Try not to be afraid of the phallic symbol. I can empathize with Elisabeth. Europeans are at the point where they can’t state they will defend themselves without it being a criminal act.

          They’ll need to kill all of us? How about we all, and I mean ALL, start talking a little more John Wayne and a little less BBC. I never understood what was wrong with cowboys.
          If someone is breaking in my house I want “cowboy”, not 911 and the buzzy-bee women from the police station.

          “Hate speech” needs to become normal again. Let’s get everybody used to it. It used to be called “free speech”.

          Having watched some European TV and media, you folks are embarrassingly language-neutered on the topic of guns and self-protection. And you thought American TV was stupid. You are all raised in socialist groupthink: guns are bad, government handles everything. It seems ironic, but tradition-loving Europeans need to come up with better ways of claiming their right to stand their ground and speak their mind. General toughness needs to make a comeback in the Olde World.

          Overall, the idea that you would passively agree to not protect yourselves is unconscionable, shameful and frankly, sickly. I would never agree to not protect myself or my family, but it seems that Europeans have, at least unconsciously. I mean you depend on government: a truly spectacular mistake. You have slowly given away your rights as human beings, displacing spirituality with that shoddy imitation.

          • I served 30 years in the military. I live in America and have guns for my own protection. Just today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purchased more ammo, enough to last 30 years. We will be having our own standoff in America when Obama and Feinstein take away our guns and neuter us in the same manner that happened to Europeans under socialist rule. Hollow point rounds are meant for civil unrest. This new world order is happening on a global level. I watch events unfolding in Europe because I know Muslims were brought in to create tension and unrest. It was a deliberate way to weaken national sovereignty while promoting offspring and the next generation of working slaves. No matter if their religion and ideology will destroy the language and culture of the existing indigenous people. We all must be prepared to draw our lines in the sand when they come for our guns, our property, and insist on greater controls such as smart meters, smart cars, and microchips, first mandated for our animals (i.e. dogs chipped in Britain by 2016) and then for humans.

        • OK. Here’s an example. I rented an apartment where I had a problem that the landlord refused to fix. He told me to call the housing inspector if I didn’t like it. I NEVER would have thought of that on my own, but I took his suggestion. Sure enough, the housing inspector could NOT legally make the landlord fix my problem. However, the housing inspector found a bunch of other problems that cost the landlord a whole lot of money to fix. To this day, I am betting that the landlord wishes that he had just kept his mouth shut instead of GIVING ME THE IDEA to call the housing inspector.

          It is one thing if Islam tells Muslims to murder infidels. It is another WORSE thing if infidels agree with that flawed premise and – in essence – tell Muslims to murder infidels. Remember the original quotation came from Ayaan Hirsi Ali who was raised as a Muslim. To me, this is a very Muslim message.

          It is also a very fatalistic message. In truth, nobody should be telling anybody that they need to murder all of anybody!

          What needs to happen is that Islam and all of its outward symbols need to be banned. Once Islam is banned, Islam will die. It is ALL of Islam that needs to be murdered!

  1. Pingback: Attempted Assassination Of Free Speech Campaigner Lars Hedegaard :: Liberties Alliance

  2. “after being found guilty by the Eastern High Court, he was let off by the Supreme Court last year.”

    At least the Danish media are prepared to admit something that the BBC isn’t.

    • ““after being found guilty by the Eastern High Court, he was let off by the Supreme Court last year.””

      Notice the mealy mouthed construction of that sentence. It was the Eastern High Court that found him GUILTY. But the Supreme Court LET him OFF.

      GUILTY carries a legitimate provenance. But LET OFF is connotes an uncertainty… even illegitimate judgement.

      • Yes, you’re right. Still, the Danish newspaper mentions something here that the BBC, Guardian and other media totally omit – that the Danish supreme court annulled the original fine.

  3. Islam is the worst thing ever happened to Humanity.
    1400 long years.
    Basta! Stop this evil!

  4. Pingback: Another Attempt to Murder Free Speech in Denmark | The Counter Jihad Report

  5. Pingback: A Message From Lars Hedegaard | Gates of Vienna

  6. Subject: Request Your Support to Inform People about Islam

    Dear Lars ,…. Knowing your time is valuable, I will keep this e-mail short.

    I do not advocate any particular religion but desire to inform people about The Qur’an and the looming threat of Islam that grows like an out of control cancer.

    I will be honored to mail you a complimentary copy of Allah, We, Our and Us. It informs people of the beliefs of Muslims and how they are indoctrinated to kill others and themselves who do not worship Allah.

    U.S. Government leaders are in denial and refuse to acknowledge that Islam has declared and is at war with us.

    Please provide your mailing address so that I may send you a complimentary copy of my recently published book via my e-mail: nickginex@gmail.com.

    I have chosen you along with Journalists, Newscasters/Commentators, and Government Officials to receive a copy of Allah, We, Our and Us. You have a voice in the media and I humbly request your support to inform people of a book that exposes the atrocities of Islam.

    For an overview and reviews of the book, visit http://www.futureofgodamen.com . For more about me, go to: http://iranpoliticsclub.net/club/viewtopic.php?p=7871#p7871

    My best wishes for your continued success and a wonderful life.
    Nicholas P. Ginex

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