A vice councilman for the Independence Party is facing strong criticism for a since-deleted Facebook post he made implying that Reykjavík Mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson brought upon the gunshot attack on his family car, RÚV reports. The mayor, for his part, told reporters he was “deeply disturbed” by the event.
As reported, several shots were fired at the mayor’s car last week, although no one was in the car at the time and no one was injured. Police are actively investigating the matter and are keeping watch over the mayor’s home.
Ólafur Kr. Guðmundsson, a vice councilman for the Independence Party for Reykjavík City Council, made a post last night where he effectively blamed Dagur for the attack.
“Start with yourself,” Ólafur had posted on Facebook, along with a news story about the shooting. “This is the result of what was promised from the so-called collapse of 2008. Now the revolution has come home and you just have to take it, Mr. Mayor.”
The post, while deleted, was screenshot by others and has drawn criticism from many, including members of Ólafur’s own party.
“This was a mistake, it was an accident,” Ólafur told reporters, saying that he intends to apologise to the mayor over the phone. “It was last night, right before I went to sleep. It is of course the nature of Facebook that a person can make a mistake. I forgot about it and woke up in the morning to see the response and deleted it. This was not at all OK.”
For his part, Dagur told Vísir that he is still in shock over the matter, but that his family has shown a lot of courage in the matter. He also thanked the police for their response and the work they have been doing. At the same time, he expressed concerns about the implications of the attack.
“Foremost in my mind is that the police can do their jobs and investigate,” he said. “But this isn’t my own personal case. I think that we have to discuss the discourse, the harshness, the way we communicate as an international development. The line is always moving, and it raises the question of when we as a society discuss this and say that this has gone far enough.”
Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.
You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
