Photo of Woman Standing Up to Neo-Nazi Group Goes Viral

Politics

 | May 5, 2016 | By Lauren Boudreau

With the refugee crisis still running rampant, Europe is experiencing its own rise of Islamophobia. Neo-Nazi groups are rising and attempting to spread their hatred and bigotry. These groups have been protesting throughout Europe, with one of the more recent being in Borlänge, Sweden, on May 1.

The neo-nazis marched through the center of the liberal town, but were outnumbered by counter-protesters. That’s when activist Tess Asplund decided she had to do something.

Asplund jumped out in front of the neo-Nazis raising her fist in defiance.

“I don’t think I even thought about it really, I just jumped out,” she told Swedish newspaper The Local.

What followed was a stare-down between her and one of the neo-Nazis captured on film by photographer David Lagerlöf.

En av mina foton från nazistdemonstrationen i Borlänge. Noterar att den delas friskt just nu 🙂 #svpol #fotose pic.twitter.com/qc3Y3brByK

— David Lagerlöf (@davidlagerlof) May 3, 2016

“I just thought: you shouldn’t be here,” she said. “Then one of them stared at me and I stared back. He didn’t say anything and neither did I. Then the police came fairly quickly and took me away.”

Lagerlöf’s photo has since gone viral, even earning praise from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

Look what this woman did.

Tess Asplund, you are magnificent ❤️https://t.co/tvOGMM9TUD pic.twitter.com/18qHORBVZG

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 4, 2016

Twitter users are calling it the photo of the year and even comparing it to the iconic 1985 photo of an old lady using a bag as a weapon against neo-Nazi protesters.

Dagens dokumentärtips.
Tanten (som bara var 38 år) med väskan.http://t.co/bVqTRSdd1y pic.twitter.com/yFP4jVwNng

— Fredrik Hjulström (@fhjulstrom) September 29, 2015

The world is indeed in a sorry state when events from decades ago are still happening today.

But perhaps with people like Asplund, they will one day be a thing of the past.