Artist who angered Muslims is attacked

May 12, 2010|Associated Press

STOCKHOLM — A Swedish artist who angered Muslims by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was assaulted yesterday as angry protesters interrupted his university lecture about the limits of artistic freedom.

Lars Vilks said a man in the front row ran up to him and head-butted him during the lecture, breaking his glasses but leaving him uninjured.

Police later said the attacker was stopped before he could reach Vilks and that the artist may have bumped into plainclothes officers who briskly escorted him from the room.

Three people were detained.

A video clip of the incident on the website of a Swedish newspaper showed police using pepper spray and batons to hold off an angry crowd shouting “God is great’’ in Arabic after Vilks was escorted out of the lecture hall.

Vilks has faced numerous threats over his drawing of Muhammad with a dog’s body, but yesterday’s incident was the first time he has been physically assaulted.

Earlier this year, US investigators said Vilks was the target of a murder plot involving Colleen LaRose, an American who dubbed herself “Jihad Jane’’ and who now faces life in prison.

Vilks said a group of about 15 people had been shouting and trying to interrupt the lecture before the incident at Uppsala University.

Many of them stormed the front of the room after the attack and clashed with security guards as Vilks was pulled away.

An Uppsala University spokeswoman, Pernilla Bjork, said Vilks was showing a provocative film with sexual content to the crowd when the attacker ran up and hit him in the face with his fists.