In 2023, Sweden's Social Democratic party passed a new law that made it illegal to arrest, detain, or prosecute a child under 15 for any crime. It also erased all criminal punishments for children.
This applies to every single imaginable crime.
As you can imagine, things have not been going well.
John Rosell, a prosecutor in Gothenburg, said,
We see an enormous increase in young people committing serious crimes. There is a need for increased opportunities to deprive young people of their liberty. It is completely decisive for being able to combat serious crime, says Rosell.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer is working on getting the legislature to revise or repeal the law,
For example, giving the police the opportunity to use coercive measures against young people is a very critical issue both for prevention and for being able to clear up this type of crime, says Strömmer.
Swedish gangs immediately took advantage of the new law.
Like Fagin in Oliver Twist, they've started recruiting children into their gangs with renewed enthusiasm.
One of the more alarming stories is that some of the children have become contract killers and are carrying out hits all over the country.
One 14-year-old assassin walked reporters through the hiring process:
In text messages seen by The Sunday Telegraph, Fernando's 'handler', a member of Sweden's Foxtrot gang, sent him tips on how to gain access to the target's apartment block and avoid getting caught.
'If the [entrance] is locked, take a stone and break it,' the handler, known as 'Louise Gucci', tells Fernando. 'Then you do your thing. Afterward, when you come back to the hood, you put the Kalashnikov in the same place. Then go home, shower, and wash your clothes.'
The calls for hits show up on social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat with adventurous names like "bombing today" and "who wants to shoot someone in Stockholm".
And there are some graphic examples cited of kids murdering whole families, including toddlers and infants. It's too horrible to recount here.
Carin Götblad, a police chief in Stockholm at the National Operations Department.
'Some people say, 'they don't understand what they have done'. They may not fully understand the consequences of what they have done, but if you are 14 years old and you shoot a person in the head - you understand that this man is dead,' she said.
The police say that the gangs are currently focusing on recruiting girls and kids with disabilities because they would arouse less suspicion from their targets.
Just imagine looking through the peephole and seeing a troupe of Girl Scouts selling cookies.
You open the door hoping for some Thin Mints and out come the knives.
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