What happened
A 19-year-old man has been charged with preparation for a terrorist offense, aggravated participation in a terrorist organization, and public incitement to terrorism, Åklagarmyndigheten announces. According to the indictment, the man planned to carry out a knife attack against an upper secondary school in Halmstad in the name of the Islamic State. The suspicions concern acts committed between 1 March and 13 April this year, and the man was arrested in the Halmstad area in April. Säkerhetspolisen describes the case as an example of how young people are drawn into the terror threat. The 19-year-old denies preparation for a terrorist offense but admits participation in a terrorist organization and public incitement to terrorism.
Our analysis
Violent extremism is a direct threat to people's lives and safety in Sweden. Our newspaper judges movements by what they do to people, never by what flag they carry or what faith they claim to represent. When someone plans to attack a school in the name of IS, it is an attack on our entire society.
The price for this kind of fanaticism is always paid twice by new Swedes. First through the immediate danger to children and youth in school, and then through the collective suspicion that inevitably follows in the debate. Loud voices on the political fringe will as usual try to turn a 19-year-old's criminal actions into a collective responsibility for all Muslims and all new Swedes.
It is a trap that must be rejected. Those who want to divide Sweden – whether they are violent Islamists or anti-immigration forces – feed on each other's rhetoric. The answer to terror threats is rigorous judicial proceedings and protection of our youth, never collective guilt.
Explained
Preparation for a terrorist offense means that someone acquires weapons, receives money, or takes other concrete measures to carry out a terror attack before it is completed.