Vaasa riot

The riot unfolded with a violent attack by radical members of the right wing Lapua Movement on Communist supporters and bystanders at a court house in Vaasa.

[1] The Vaasa riot signalled the defeat of moderate elements in the Lapua movement which is popularly believed to stand for non-violence and rule of law.

At the end of the assembly, The Suomen Lukko [fi] was established, which called for opposition to communism through legal means.

On 28 March, a group of radical Lapua supporters destroyed the printing press in Vassa of the communist Työn Ääni magazine.

[4] Asser Salo, a lawyer and Communist MP filed a lawsuit on behalf of Työn Ääni for damages against the Lapua Movement and some of its members.

Esko Riekki, the head of the Detective Central Police (EK), warned the Government of Finland that the demonstration could turn violent.

On 7 May, when Salo arrived in Vaasa for the court hearing, a group of Lapua supporters attempted to kidnap him in the Seinäjoki train station.

The procession of 200 cars stopped briefly at the destroyed Työn Ääni office and the governor's official residence.

A group of Lapua supporters beat Eino Nieminen, the Työn Ääni Factor, who was invited as a witness.

The Lapua men beat up ten other leftist supporters, including Allan Asplund, a journalist for the Vaasa-based Social Democratic magazine Nya Folkbladet.

[8] When Salo stepped out of the courthouse after the verdict, a group of Lapua men forcible grabbed him and whisked him into a waiting car.

However, the government sided with the Lapua movement and accused the Social Democrats and Swedes of tying up their hands in the fight against communism.