TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Following Trump's claims, alt-right editor to fund reporter to Sweden
Change Size
Petri Bridge in the old town of Malmo, Sweden. (Shutterstock/File)
F
ollowing United States President Donald Trump’s claims about a terrorist attack in Sweden that never actually happened, Paul Joseph Watson, the editor of alt-right website Infowars, has donated US$2,000 to a reporter who took him up on his offer to pay "any journalist claiming Sweden is safe" to stay in Malmo, a Swedish city with a large immigrant population.
Trump has since attempted to explain himself, but that didn’t stop Twitter users worldwide from poking fun at the president using the hashtag #lastnightinSweden. As this occurred, Watson tweeted the “challenge” to journalists.
Any journalist claiming Sweden is safe; I will pay for travel costs & accommodation for you to stay in crime ridden migrant suburbs of Malmo
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) February 20, 2017
Thousands of people responded, and offered up their services; some seriously but most jokingly.
Watson has since followed through on his promise and donated $2,000 to award-winning journalist Tim Pool. According to BBC, Pool has promised to "investigate the claims of 'no-go zones' and a rise in crime that people believe are coming from migrants and refugees”.
(Read also: In Bali, Trump’s planned six-star hotel risks angering the Gods)
Pool has stated that he will be non-partisan and has used his YouTube channel to further explained that, "This is a highly politicized phenomenon, with one faction saying it's true and you're denying it for political reasons, and the other side saying it's false and you're pushing the story for political reasons.”
Malmo's deputy mayor, Nils Karlsson, has also responded with a tweet of his own, issuing a welcome to any visiting journalist who is interested. (sul/kes)
Hello, @PrisonPlanet. I'm a deputy mayor in Malmö. I would be happy to meet with any journalists you send here to ser for themselves.
— Nils Karlsson (@FilosofenNils) February 20, 2017
