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He prepared by getting knives, a skull mask and a flak vest.
Online, David was pushed by others who praise violence and right-wing extremism.
“Think how good it will feel in the body to have erased bacteria in human form,” he wrote to a friend.
In police interviews, David himself describes it as being radicalized.
He has said that what ended up with him arming himself, writing a manifesto and planning to stab schoolmates began in April 2022. Then he got in touch with a guy on Tiktok who was in the far-right party Alternative for Sweden. They then switched to Snapchat. David was invited to various groups with even more radical people.
– There was a guy who called himself “Skalman” on Snapchat. He was convicted of weapons offences, David said during the trial.
“Skalman” used to spread videos of mass murderers and terrorists. Including Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people in two attacks on mosques in New Zealand in 2019.
– He was the one who sold it to me. He got me into that culture of Nazism and right-wing extremism.
Eventually, David started putting together his own videos, or “edits”. They often revolved around school attacks. On Tiktok and in various chats, he expressed his hatred of immigrants.
At the same time, he prepared to make the incitement of violence on the Internet a reality.
David armed himself with knives and bought a flak vest. He collected gunpowder from firecrackers and googled information on making pipe bombs.
He discussed his plans with several friends online.
“We should be like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in Columbine,” he wrote to a friend, referring to the school shooting in the United States nearly 25 years ago.
“If we behave mentally disturbed, we end up in a mental institution for a maximum of one year,” replied the friend.
The punishment is one thing that seems to have deterred David. The relatives are another.
“Imagine how my parents would react if they only knew what I really do,” he wrote to a friend at one point.
“The only downside is that my grandma and grandpa will believe,” he added a little later in the same conversation.
But in the spiral of exclusion, hatred, right-wing extremism and romance of violence that David ended up in online, there were plenty of people who pushed him.
“Only buy fertilizer. Breivik used it,” one person wrote.
“You can send a link when you broadcast,” read a call from another.
During the trial, David was asked questions about how he was affected by the social pressure.
– I wanted to show myself tough and gain status. I was trying to get confirmation and I wanted to show that I could do something too.
Footnote: David is actually called something else. Through his lawyer, both he and his parents have declined to participate in the report.
FACT This is where you can turn if you feel unwell
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There are also patient associations and organizations that can provide more long-term support and belonging for people with mental illness, a list is available on 1177.
Source: mind.se and 1177
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