The Ådalen shootings () was a series of events in and around the sawmill district of Ådalen, Kramfors Municipality, Ångermanland, Sweden, in May 1931. During a protest on 14 May, five people were killed by Swedish Army troops called in as reinforcements by the police.
Background
As a response to a drawn-out industrial conflict over pay reductions at the pulp factory at Långrör, workers at other plants went on a sympathy strike. The owner of the Graninge company, Gerhard Versteegh, hired around 60 strike-breakers, who arrived in the village of Lunde in Ådalen on 12 May. The workers held a protest rally in Kramfors and marched to the Sandviken plant north of the town, where they approached and attacked some of the strike-breakers. Since the police had not been able to stop the attack, the County Administrative Board asked for the deployment of members of the military from Sollefteå to protect the strike-breakers. When the troops arrived in the late evening of 13 May, they were met by protesters, allegedly throwing stones. After the meeting, several thousand participants marched to the strike-breakers' quarters in Lunde, where the troops had been ordered to defend the strike-breakers. When they arrived in the village, a patrol of mounted troops tried unsuccessfully to stop them. At a distance of less than 100 metres, he ordered his troops to fire, in accordance with orders from the present policeman in charge. They did, aiming as planned at the ground halfway between the line and the demonstrators. However, ricochets hit the gathered demonstrators, who scattered, and the captain ordered the machine gun to fire. Five people were shot dead: Oskar Berggren, Erik Bergström, Evert Nygren, Sture Larsson and Eira Söderberg, a 20-year-old bystander. Five people were injured. An inquiry later concluded that there was no evidence that the workers were armed. The publishers of several left-wing newspapers were convicted for violations of the limitations in the Freedom of the Press Act. Rask was acquitted while Tapper was found guilty and sentenced to three days' confined arrest with loss of pay. On the other hand, several demonstrators had to face severe sentences: Axel Nordström, considered to be the leader, was sentenced to two and half years' imprisonment with hard labour. No damages were awarded to the wounded demonstrators or to the families of the five dead. The Ådalen shootings were still a concern in the discussions after the 9/11 events in the US, when military support to the police was considered. Therefore, the subsequent legislation that allowed the military to take part in anti-terrorism actions contained several safeguards. The military must be under command of the police, as they were in Ådalen in 1931, and legislation specifically says that the military cannot be used against demonstrations. There was still concern that these safeguards would not be enough.
thumb|The grave of the four workers buried at the Gudmundrå church in Kramfors
At the time of the 1931 events, it was not possible to call in police reinforcements from outside the county.
See also
- Anti-union violence
- Kent State shootings, similar incident involving soldiers shooting at unarmed civilians with fatal consequences