Two Swedish policemen featured in the segment on Fox News that spawned Donald Trump’s comments about Sweden during his campaign rally say their comments were taken out of context. Filmmaker Ami Horowitz interviewed Anders Göranzon and Jacob Ekström for his work called "Stockholm Syndrome."
Göranzon spoke to Dagens Nyheter, a Swedish newspaper, on behalf of both men.
“We don’t stand behind it. It shocked us,” Göranzon says. He tells DN that they were answering different interview questions than those shown on Fox News. “The real questions should be shown along with our answers,” he adds.
Neither man stands behind the piece that aired on Tucker Carlson Tonight. They decided to talk to the newspaper to set the record straight.
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Horowitz, the filmmaker who interviewed the two policemen, stands behind the feature and the interview he did with Carlson. He took to Twitter to reiterate his stance that Sweden is “under assault” because of the country’s immigration policies.
President Trump also used Twitter to reiterate his comments, writing, "Give the public a break - The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!"
If you're confused about what is, or is not, actually happening regarding crime in Sweden, you are not alone. The Washington Post did an analysis of crime statistics to provide some context between the contrasting positions coming from Sweden, Horowitz, and The White House.
Refugees were responsible for less than 1% of criminal incidents, the Post reports citing a study done by DN that spanned from October 2015 to January 2016. Additionally, while Sweden has the highest number of reported rape cases, the country also has one of the world's most expansive definitions of rape.
Concerns over safety and the inherent problems of immigration do exist in Sweden, but the numbers, as cited by the Post, do not bear out some of the extreme claims.
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