1996 Copenhagen rocket attack

On 6 October 1996, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the headquarters of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in Copenhagen, Denmark, killing two people and injuring nineteen others.

After its beginning in southern Sweden, violence involving the rival clubs also took place in Norway and Finland, before eventually reaching Denmark on 26 December 1995, when two Hells Angels members were severely beaten by a group of Bandidos at a restaurant in Copenhagen.

[4] Under pressure from local residents, mayor of Copenhagen Jens Kramer Mikkelsen ordered the Hells Angels to leave their headquarters, which they rented from the city under a law providing low-cost leases to clubs and civic organisations, in September 1996.

[5] At the height of the biker war, the Copenhagen Hells Angels made the contentious decision to host their annual "Viking Party" at their clubhouse on Titangade in Nørrebro on 5 October 1996.

The party was attended by approximately one-hundred-and-fifty people,[6] including Hells Angels from Denmark and Sweden,[7] as well as local residents who were invited by the club via posters in an apparent attempt to mollify members of the public who were outraged by the spiraling motorcycle gang violence.

[8] The Carl Gustaf M3 84 mm recoilless multi-purpose rifle[9] used in the attack was one of twelve stolen from a Swedish Army weapons depot in Malmö during a burglary on 19 February 1994.

[10] Janne Krohn became the first person from outside the gang environment to be killed as a result of the conflict[5] and political condemnation followed the attack, with Prime Minister of Denmark Poul Nyrup Rasmussen describing the event as "abominable".

[8] Reacting to the concern caused by the escalation in motorcycle gang violence, the Danish government introduced harsher anti-crime legislation, which resulted in increased powers for the police and longer prison sentences for many offences.

[9] Bandidos member Mickey Borgfjord Larsen was taken into custody on 24 October 1996 after his fingerprints were found on a submachine gun that was thrown away by the assailants in Fælledparken following the rocket attack.