Woman With Fire Extinguisher Arrested After Spraying Man Burning Quran at Protest

A woman was arrested after using a fire extinguisher on an anti-Islam activist who was staging a Quran-burning protest outside of the Iranian Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday. 

Salwan Momika, a well known activist and refugee from Iraq, had been authorized by police to stage the protest, the Associated Press reported.

A video of the incident showed Momika being doused in white powder from the fire extinguisher by the woman before police stopped her.

Her identity has not been released. A police spokesperson said she was detained on suspicion of disturbing public order and violence against a police officer.

Momika’s series of anti-Islam protests targeting the Quran has sparked outrage from several Muslim countries, though his protests have been allowed to continue by Swedish authorities.

Despite the authorization under freedom of speech rules, police have also filed preliminary hate speech charges against Momika, and prosecutors are investigating whether his actions are admissible under the country’s hate speech laws.

The law bans incitement of hatred against individuals and groups based on religion, race or sexual orientation, but does not extend to criticism of religion or desecration of religious books.

Momika has said his protests are not targeted toward Muslim people, but rather the religion of Islam, according to AP.

He also said threats against him and Sweden would not stop him from continuing to burn the Quran, and noted that he seeks to protect Swedish people from the religious book’s messages.

“I have freedom of speech,” Swedish news agency TT quoted Momika as saying.

Sweden, and neighboring Scandinavian country Denmark, have been called on to reevaluate their free speech laws by Islamic nations. The Quran-burnings have incited protests in Muslim countries and increased threats against the nation and its leaders from Islamic extremists.

On Thursday, Sweden raised its terror level due to the "deteriorated situation with regard to attack threats to Sweden, and the assessment that the threat will remain for a long time,” the Swedish Security Service said in a statement.

The U.S. Embassy in Sweden issued a security alert on the same day, warning of “possible retaliatory attacks” following the continued Quran burnings.