Self-confessed Muslims on social media have celebrated the fatal car crash that left Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks and two police officers dead on Sunday.
Users on social media platform Twitter expressed joy at the news that Lars Vilks, who drew cartoons of the Islamic Prophet Mohammed in 2007 and has lived under police protection since, was killed in a crash. Mr Vilk’s car, in which he was travelling with two police officers, was hit head-on by a heavy goods truck.
Under the hashtag #larsvilkstohell, many users expressed their celebration at the death of the cartoonist with one writing, “Lars Vilks died in a car accident. Now is the time for the reckoning. RIP (Roast In Peace) for your hate and disrespect.”
“Lars Vilks and two cops died in collision. no matter how much live protection you lived by you will not escape Allah the most high Alhmdulillah,” another user said.
Dutch politician Geert Wilders, a long-time critic of Islam himself and also under police protection due to threats from Islamist radicals, posted the Mohammed cartoon drawn by Vilks in a Tweet on Monday with the caption “RIP Lars.” A user responded to Wilder’s tweet using the #larsvilkstohell hashtag stating, “you’ll be next……”
The hashtag #larsvilks has also been used by Islamists celebrating the fatal crash, with many stating that Mr Vilks was going to hell.
Since 2007 Mr Vilks has been under constant threat from radical Islamic extremists and had a $150,000 bounty placed on his head by an al-Qaeda-affiliate.
Vilks had seen multiple threats on his life since 2007, including a 2010 plot to murder him, hatched by two Muslims who were later arrested in Ireland.
In 2015, Vilks was also a target during the Copenhagen terror attack that saw a radical Islamist open fire at a freedom of speech event he was a key speaker at. The attacker murdered a Danish filmmaker and a guard protecting a synagogue, and injured five police officers.
Swedish investigators have stated that currently, they do not believe the car crash that killed Mr Vilks was an attack.
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