On August 27th, a quiet walk in central Stockholm became a nightmare for one man. He is 42 years old, and he was attacked just because he looked “foreign”. As we detailed in our previous article, All You Need to Know About the Aktivklubb Attack in Stockholm, this was a planned hate crime by the neo-Nazi group, Aktivklubb.

AfI has worked hard to show who the attackers are and the places that help them. But the real damage is not just the court case; it is the life that was broken.

The victim’s words, shared in a public statement, give us a clear picture. They show not just the cuts and bruises, but the deep, hidden hurt caused by cruel hate.

He remembers little of the attack itself: “I remember something happened behind me and then I seem to have lost consciousness. But what happened, or how, I don’t know”. What the police found out is scary: he was hit and kicked again and again, even while lying helpless on the ground. The violence stopped only when the police came.

The physical cost was huge: a concussion, several teeth destroyed, and a scary time when he could barely hear. But the hurt inside is deeper.

“The feeling was, and it still holds tight, that I, a grown man of 42, was humiliated and thrown to the ground. It was so completely mercilessly. I didn’t even get a chance to react. I just lay there while they treated me that way. It is so humiliating. That feeling has not let go of me. It feels humiliating and difficult”.

Humiliation. Helplessness. These are the bad weapons of hate. They steal dignity, destroy trust, and take away the basic safety we all need.

After the attack, he felt he had to leave Sweden. He went abroad to stay with relatives. He only came back for the trial, and with his return came the scary feeling that the pain will last a long time: “The feeling of discomfort and insecurity came back… I feel it here – a feeling of insecurity”.

His life is now changed: “I’ve tried to go back to normal, to be a person who likes to walk. But I have become cautious, I watch people’s faces… When I see two or three people together, I wonder if they’re planning to do something. If I hear a sound behind me, I turn around immediately to see what it is. I am on my guard”.

This is what it means to live under the shadow of hate. It makes a normal walk a scary challenge. It makes normal groups of people look like a danger. It steals peace of mind.

AfI supports every victim of hate. We make their voices louder, fight for their rights, and demand that the people who do this are held responsible. We cannot let these actions become normal. We cannot let our society become a place where immigrants live in fear.