racism | Varis | Antifasistinen verkosto

Published 17.09.2016. We update the article as we get more info about the events.

17.9. 19:39: The homepage of the the nazi group FRM is down. Below you can find screenshots and video of their orginal posts.
18.9. 16:08: One nazist born 1990 has been arrested and is suspected of grossly negligent homicide.
18.9. Friends and acquaintances of Jimi describe him as a firm advocate of human rights and as an antirascist who was not affraid of manifesting his opinions. “Somehow it feels like if Jimi had to leave it had to happen exactly like this, a friend of his thought.” [1 & 2]

The Nazist Finnish Resistance Movement (FRM, in finnish Suomen Vastarintaliike, SVL) killed a bypasser during their street event on the 10th of September, near Helsinki Railway Station. The next day FRM published on their website a picture and a video featuring the person they assaulted, along with a text glorifying their violence. According to the victim’s family, the young man that FRM assaulted died in hospital last night, September 16th at 10 PM, from the serious injuries he received. Anti-fascist network Varis takes part in the grief of his family and friends.

Helsingin uutiset news media writes that Helsinki Police “confirms that a case of assault was registered at the Station square on Saturday 10th of September, and that a death is connected to it”. Although a crime report and witness accounts were delivered already the day following the assault which led to the fatality, police does not yet comment on whether there was a cause-effect connection. The victim’s father, interviewed by tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, says that “his son was knocked to the ground with the result that he hit his head on the pavement and lost consciousness. He was taken to Töölö hospital. On Thursday he was sent home with doctor’s permission. He didn’t remember anything about the event, but his friends told me. Yesterday on Friday, he had a brain hemorrhage at home. He barely had time to call the emergency number before he lost consciousness. He died there [in hospital] at 10 PM. I managed to visit him in the hospital, he was in respirator”.

The deceased’s family tells that the assaulted person succumbed to brain trauma. “My dear son Jimi Joonas Karttunen was assaulted on Saturday 10th of September, 13.00 o’clock at Eliel square (Helsinki) by Finnish Resistance movement in an event they had. The nazi-skinheads assaulted my son causing him a serious brain trauma. Because of this totally futile violent attack my son Jimi Joonas passed away yesterday 16th of September around 22.00 o’clock in Meilahti hospital. May his soul rest in peace! The criminal police is aware of the episode.”

According to the father, the victim had walked by the FRM’s street event, and told the Nazis what he thought about their far-right politics, for which he was beaten up with fateful consequences. In FRM’s own version, the bypasser had recognized the organization’s flag and started “behaving aggressively”. FRM published on their website a picture where the victim of the violence lies on the ground next to a splatter of blood, and commented on it as “a swift restoration of discipline” to a bypasser of different political opinion. FRM has also in the past assaulted random passers-by during their street events, for example in Myyrmäki, Vantaa (suburb of Helsinki), and in Jyväskylä. SVL uses this as a way to build an image of themselves as a violent paramilitary group, in order to attract violent young men to join in their activities.

After the violent assault FRM actively advertised the episode online, e.g. in Twitter. For example, FRM member Eppu Torniainen tweeted September 11th, “Feel like spitting and issuing violent threats? Do it somewhere else”, to which FRM member Juhani Keränen replied: “@JesseTorniainen seems that guy was caught by surprise, when the other side didn’t have patience for his childish noise”. The news was also published by antisemitic media Magneettimedia, which FRM has control over, as well as racist “news” site linked to Putin trolls “MV-lehti” (owned by Ilja Janitskin), with the headline “Video: hothead opposing ‘racism’ makes fool of themselves in Helsinki”. In the article itself, the violent assault was described as “disciplining action”. FRMs tweets were retweeted mainly by the movement’s Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian members, along with a few other far-righters. In addition, FRM’s internet radio “Studio 204” spread info about the assault. The numbers in the program’s name refer to Adolf Hitler’s birthday, 20.4.1889.

FRMmembers Jesse Torniainen and Santeri Juhani Keränen brag to each other about the assault. Also FRM’s web-radio Studio 204 glorified the violent assault.

@JesseTorniainen: “Feel like spitting and issuing violent threats? Do it somewhere else”.
@Riimuradio (FRM propaganda channel): Antifascism is always a crime of drug use.
@JesseTorniainen: Even junkies need meaning in their lives.
@Juhani_Keranen: “@JesseTorniainen seems that guy was caught by surprise, when the other side didn’t have patience for his childish noise”.

Below are listed the persons recognized in the pictures from the street event which led to the killing. If you recognize other persons from the pictures, you can tell us by email: varistoimitus[at]riseup.net.

At right: Otto Rutanen. Rutanen is one of FRM’s leaders, and has functioned also as the leader of FRM’s Helsinki group. Rutanen is a former bonehead-nazi, and has been convicted for violent assault among other things.

Arttu Pylkkänen. Pylkkänen was convicted of the gas attack on the Helsinki Pride Parade in 2010. He has taken part in FRM’s activism almost from its foundation.

In FRM’s own video, Jesse Eppu Torniainen can be seen among the first in the group to start intimidating passers-by critical of the national socialist worldview. Torniainen is known as one of FRM’s most violent members. He has been convicted several times for violent assault. Torniainen has among other things stabbed an immigrant in the back. Part of FRM’s activities almost from the start. Mentioned also in the criminal investigation of the Pride attack.

Santeri Juhani Keränen. Keränen is leader of the Oulu local group, and active in trying to spread nazi propaganda in social media.

Petri Nordman. Nordman has been involved in FRM’s activism almost from the start. He has among other things filmed anti-racist demonstrations.

Tomi Tiihonen. Tiihonen is known alongside Torniainen as one of FRM’s most violent members. Convicted among other things for arson, together with Torniainen.

The video published by FRM of the street event which led to the casualty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgoeMx1q5mg

A screen shot from the orginal text about the episode from FRM site.

During the autumn of 2015 racists demonstrations occurred in many cities in Finland with the name Rajat kiinni (“Close the Borders”). In a previous article on this website we focused on evidence of racism and fascism in the Rajat Kiinni demonstrations. There are three photos below from the 24.10 demonstration in Helsinki.

Man heiling in front of stage 24.10.

Boneheads heiling on senate square stairs 24.10.

Pasi Parkman with racist sign and nazi hoodie.

Facebook as another venue for racism and fascism

Overt racist and fascist behaviour are not just limited to these demos, but on publically-searchable social media, like Facebook. As a social media device, Facebook allows like-minded people to share and like each others material, such as photos and articles reflecting one’s personal opinion. Here, it is very clear that a culture of racism exists, extending further to fascist thinking. On many pages that are Finnish nationalistic (and are the personal pages of members of the Finnish Defence League, Suomen Sisu, Suomen vastarintaliike, perussuomalaiset, and other individual friends of these people or events), it is nowadays easy to find racist rhetoric as well. Such as calling Muslims “mudslimes,” or posting videos showing the refugee crisis as if it is an unescapable torrent of humans, with “facts” such as 30,000 migrants are “flooding” into Finland alone. This fear-mongering only adds fuel to the fire of nationalism and fascism, as evident in many of the images below.

Racism and fascism all in one.

Olavi Mattila heiling. His hoodie has a logo of the Finnish coat of arms.

Janne Thor Mattila heiling in a nazi t-shirt.

Facism and violence

Being brave and outoing with one’s racism is dangerous especially if the normalization of rascist rhetoric continues: racists spouting rascist rhetoric on social media can easily translate to reality, such as the growth of attacks against asylum seekers, people of color in general and towards receptions center in Finland. It is difficult to assess if the role of social media has had a big impact on the growth of overtly racist and violent speech and acts since the refugee crisis in late summer, but nonetheless Facebook is a means to document this behaviour: below are some examples of hate speech towards migrants and refugees.

Fear, and the flipping of the degredation and dehumanization of migrants onto themselves for the justification of violence, arson, and attacks to life. This English children’s book character and symbol for the freedom of movement is being used in a darkly sinister way.

Equally sinister is Juuso’s profile photo from 4th October of Suomi Says Welcome with the man dressed as the KKK from Lahti. Juuso uses cultural symbols from outside of Finland to bring up the fear of the migrant and to give underlying messages that the destruction of the migrant is the solution.

Just as the idea of a coordinated, all-Muslim invasion is as constructed in the imaginary, so too is being “white” constructed in the social imaginaries of racial and national identity. Being Muslim or “brown” is as heterogenous as being “white”, and so the argument that Muslims are invading Europe is simplifying reality down to basic fears. Nonetheless, it is worrying that such hate speech, racialized talk, and use of racist and violent symbols are used to legitimate and support incredibly violently suggestive speech.

No comment needed.

Violent fantasies about killing people: “Too many assholes, not enough bullets”.

Recent hate speech by ex-member of parliament and the Finns party James Hirvisaari, he wants to see migrants hang and would “sympathize even with a collective final solution” to them.

In 2012, then Finnish MP (and currently MEP, and member of Helsinki City Council) Jussi Halla-Aho (The Finns), had his sentence confirmed by the Finnish Supreme Court for incitement to ethnic/racial hatred found in a blog he had written back in the 2008. Although Facebook tends to do little to nothing regarding racist and xenophobic photos and text despite it’s harmful content community standards, Germany has charged a number of people (even non-Germans) based off of very similar remarks made on their personal Facebook profiles.

Violence, but also FB groups and 6.12

People from loose networks of the extreme right-wing together with participants from Rajat kiinni demos mainly composed the upwards of 700 people at the fascist-nationalist 6.12 torch march on Finnish Independence Day, which was organized for the second time this year.

These groups outwardly violent and/or fascist rhetoric. Despite the 6.12 event itself suggesting peace, calm, and neutral aspects of Finnishness…

…groups affiliated with 6.12 show a much different side. Protestor heiling at 612-demonstration.

“Right Sector -Finland” liked everything 6.12 posted, the group itself however is affiliated with the extreme right group from Ukraine.

“Think tank fatherland first” photo with Hitler photoshopped over picture from anti-racist Meilla Unelma (“We have a dream”) demo in Helsinki. This group also liked 6.12’s posts.

Violence towards migrants, people of colour, and reception centres should be of a growing concern in Europe and Finland -how many people must we see getting wounded or even murdered before we resist? Nationalism and extreme right are growing rapidly in Finland as in the rest of Europe. Finland’s far-right is also connected to many other facist movements, for example in Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Italy and Greece. As anti-racists, anti-fascists and internationalists we have to organize on the local level, so that we may stay in solidarity with international struggles!

Varis | Antifasistinen verkosto

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Finnish nazi group killed bypasser during their street event