The Eritrean community in Kristiansand has an event in Randesund town hall on Søm on Saturday evening. In advance, the police feared that there could be unrest around the event. At 6.30 pm, the demonstrators tried to topple barricades, and the police responded by using tear gas. – A confrontation has arisen in connection with the event organized by an Eritrean association in Randesund. The police are present with considerable resources. The police are asking the public to move away from the area around Randesund town hall, the police write on X. There are a lot of people at the scene, and the atmosphere is tense now, say our reporters on the scene. Photo: Geir Ingar Egeland / news There are a lot of people outside the venue where the event is. They have handed out flyers with a message that the party must be stopped. Our reporters on the scene report a tense atmosphere and loud shouts that the party must be stopped. At a shop in Søm, the police have blocked the road. There were then reports that a group of people had entrenched themselves in a nearby block. They have expressed that they want to enter the venue where the event is taking place. – The police were aware that this could occur and have been quickly present with significant resources to deal with the situation. The police’s primary task is that the event does not cause a danger to life, health and safety for the public and those involved, says Chief of Staff Vidar Arnesen in the Agder police district in a press release. There are a lot of police resources in action. Photo: Geir Ingar Egeland / news The police say the mission is well resourced, but do not want to give details of how many they have in action. They also receive help from national aid resources and police from neighboring districts. – We take the situation very seriously, says Arnesen. The police further write that they have zero tolerance for violence, and do not accept street fights and disturbances as they have seen from other cities. – The police’s primary task is that the event does not cause a danger to life, health and safety for the public and those involved. Punishable conditions will be followed up by the police and may have consequences for those involved, says Arnesen. The police were prepared The police had received information in advance which indicated that there could be unrest. – Agder police district has therefore, together with Kristiansand municipality, prepared us for such a scenario, says chief of staff Vidar Arnesen in Agder police district in a press release. There have previously been episodes of violence and riots in several places between regime-critical Norwegian-Eritreans and what they believe to be regime-friendly associations. Among other things in Bergen, where stones were thrown and the police had to close parts of the city centre. Fences to block off the area were ready earlier Saturday. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news Moved out of town The police were in contact with the organizer in Kristiansand, and asked them to move the event out of the city centre. The organizer agreed to this, the police write. – Safety for the residents of Agder is very important and we do everything we can to ensure this, says Arnesen. The police believe they could ensure the safety of both the population and those who organized the party by moving the party out of the city centre. On Saturday afternoon, they were in place in the district, both where the event was supposed to be and on the roads into the district. The police on site in the district of Kristiansand. Photo: Geir Ingar Egeland / news The police helicopter in place Earlier on Saturday, the police helicopter was also observed over Kristiansand. Fædrelandsvennen first wrote about this. – We can confirm that the police helicopter is here. We cannot say anything more about its use. We take different scenarios into account. We do this so that the event is carried out in a good and safe way for everyone involved, operations manager Øyvind Hægeland told the newspaper on Saturday morning. Photo: Mathias Charman / Mathias Charman Fædrelandsvennen also wrote that the police checked three cars at Stoa in Arendal on the night of Saturday. – We took note of who was in the cars, and we checked whether they had anything with them that could be used for something other than a peaceful demonstration. The cars were allowed to continue, the police operations manager told the newspaper this morning.
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The police used tear gas against demonstrators at an Eritrean party in Kristiansand – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
