Police use batons and pepper spray against anti-fascist protestors

Left-wing activists protest the appearance of right-wing leader at Venstre-sponsored debate

The decision by Venstres Ungdom (VU) – the youth wing of the largest opposition party – to invite  holocaust denier Daniel Carlsen for a debate at their Copenhagen headquarters led to a confrontation between police and over 100 agitated anti-fascist activists last night.

The activists attempted to block entry to the building and in the ensuing confrontation, police drew batons and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

At least two activists were injured and one policeman was taken to hospital after being hit in the head with a bottle.

“We showed that there are many who believe that it’s fundamentally wrong that Venstres Ungdom validates Nazis by inviting them to meetings,” one demonstrator, Steffen Sørensen, told left-wing news portal Modkraft.

In a statement to Modkraft, VU’s chairman, Morten Dahlin, wrote that totalitarianism and extremism is best fought through democratic means such as argumentation and critical debate rather than through violence.

Carlsen, 21, is the leader of far-right group Danskernes Parti and has expressed sympathy with Hitler and argued that the commonly-accepted history of World War II and the Holocaust is communistic propaganda.

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