Early yesterday evening, a group of people described by police and witnesses as having “a different ethnic background than Danish” used axes and other weapons to smash up a cafe in central Odense.
The vandalism subsequently led to a confrontation between police and a group of people at the clubhouse of an immigrant group that calls itself the Black Army.
“We were notified that about five to six cars carrying a lot of people with a different ethnic background than Danish had destroyed the facade of the place,” Funen Police’s head of security Lars Thede told Ekstra Bladet.
A range of charges
They said no-one was hurt in the incident, but that 20 people were arrested and charged with various offences ranging from serious disturbances of public order, gross damage and violation of the Firearms Act.
A witness said he heard noise and shouting and that the cafe was damaged.
“There were a lot of people throwing stones and bottles and kicking the door in,” said the witness who chose not to give his name.
Arrests lead to violence
After police investigated the scene of the attack, they went to the Black Army’s clubhouse in central Odense.
“There were three people in a vehicle with a smashed rear window and an ax in the back seat,” said Thede.
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The arrest of the three in the car instigated an attack on officers that led to the subsequent arrests.
Police do not yet know the motive behind the vandalism.
