Copenhagen shooting: Denmark holds mass memorial and rally to honour victims

David Chazan and Julian Isherwood in Copenhagen

Tens of thousands of Danes held torches and sang John Lennon’s Imagine at memorials across the country on Monday night to those killed by a suspected Islamist terrorist.

The prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, most Danish politicians and the leaders of other Scandinavian countries attended the remembrance ceremony in Copenhagen.

It was held near the cafe where a film-maker was killed in a burst of automatic weapons fire while attending a free speech debate on Saturday. Flags were at half-mast on all Danish public buildings on Monday
“We have now experienced the fear that terrorism seeks to spread,” the prime minister said, calling for national unity. “We know that there are fanatics who hold others’ right to live in contempt.”

The gunman, Omar el-Hussein, 22, a Dane of Palestinian descent, was killed by police hours after a second attack at 1am on Sunday on a synagogue where a girl’s Bat Mitzvah confirmation party was being held.

The attacker pretended to be a drunken guest to get past a police cordon, but was stopped by Dan Uzan, a Jewish economist standing outside as a volunteer security guard.

On Monday, two men were charged as the gunman’s accomplices.

Uzan, 37, a six-foot-five former footballer and basketball player who worked at the Danish Treasury, paid for his quick thinking with his life. “If it hadn’t been for Dan, all those teenagers at the party could have been massacred,” said Michael Fish, his childhood friend.

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