The Priest Protests Against Islamization – Now She Is Dragged to Court

She appears in a clerical collar, a large cross, and has on multiple occasions burned the Quran during public demonstrations. Now Jade Sandberg, known as the “Cross Woman,” is being prosecuted for two counts of incitement against an ethnic group. In an interview with Samnytt, she speaks about the religious conviction behind her actions, explains the controversial statement “no Muslims on our streets,” and talks about death threats and her complete loss of trust in the Swedish justice system.

Jade Sandberg still describes herself as a priest, even though she no longer serves within the church denomination where she was ordained. She states that she was ordained as a priest in 2018 and before that as a deaconess. She also describes herself as a trained exorcist and says she has documentation from her bishop confirming this.

Today, she stands outside the established church environments.

– You could say I am churchless, she says, claiming that churches and congregations want to “have nothing to do with her” because of her public fight against Islam.

“I Started Quran Burning for Exorcism”

Images of Sandberg with a cross and burning Qurans have spread widely. But she contests the description that the main purpose is to provoke Muslims.

If I also hated Muslims, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. Because then you’re going about it in the wrong way.

Priest Jade Sandberg

Her own explanation is considerably more religious. Sandberg says she sees the Quran burnings as a form of exorcism.

What is it you actually hope to achieve with the Quran burnings and these demonstrations? Is your purpose to provoke, generate debate, or simply to warn about something you believe is happening in Sweden?

– I started Quran burning for exorcism. That is, to drive out evil spirits and the devil. To try to keep it away in the invisible world, plain and simple. Because I am a priest and preacher and have myself experienced such things with evil spirits, the devil. Because I believe in God, Jesus Christ, and what the Bible says.

Jade Sandberg. Photo: Facsimile Facebook

She recounts that she herself has participated in what she describes as exorcisms and that she sees what she does as a concrete spiritual struggle.

– The idea was never to go out and provoke so we would kill and murder each other. No, not at all. It was to try to drive out the devil, the evil spirits, and awaken the people and achieve some spiritual stability.

Sandberg goes even further. For her, it is not merely a matter of Christianity and Islam being two competing religions. From her Christian faith, she considers Islam to be something demonic.

Do you see Islam as a demonic religion – that is, as the opposite of the Christianity you defend?

– Yes, exactly. I do.

Islamic gathering at Medborgarplatsen, Stockholm. Quran burning at Odenplan, Stockholm. Photo: Facsimile Facebook.

At the same time, she opposes the idea that this means she hates Muslims.

– If I also hated Muslims, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. Because then you’re going about it in the wrong way.

Prosecuted for Incitement Against an Ethnic Group

Sandberg has been charged at Stockholm District Court for two counts of incitement against an ethnic group. The indictment relates to two demonstrations in Stockholm in spring 2024.

The prosecutor alleges that Sandberg, at Odenplan, expressed contempt for Muslims by statements such as that Muslims should leave Sweden and Europe and through other statements and actions during the demonstration.

The second charge concerns a protest near Stockholm’s mosque, where according to the indictment she repeated “no Muslims on our streets”.
Sandberg denies the crime. She now views the trial as a matter of principle regarding freedom of expression.

The indictment was filed in May, and the trial is planned for October.

Image from Skärholmen in connection with Jade Sandberg’s demonstration against Islam. Facsimile Facebook.

How do you view the indictment?

– As an attack on my freedom of speech, obviously. It really is an attack, because I and also the other Quran burners have done this lawfully. As law-abiding citizens.

Sandberg emphasizes that she has applied for permits for the demonstrations and says that she presumed that having a permitted protest also meant extensive opportunities to express controversial views.

– I’ve somehow believed that when you have a demonstration, you’re allowed to speak and say whatever you want. However, I have never said that people should be killed and destroyed.

I go to where the metal barriers are and see so many people there. When they see me, they start shouting and yelling. They are Muslims and I assume quite a few from what’s called the left side. It was packed with people. They shouted and yelled. Classic “no Nazis, no racists.” Then I shouted into the megaphone: “No Islam on our streets, no Muslims on our streets.” So it just came up in me.

Priest Jade Sandberg

She believes that people who criticize Islam are treated by different standards and says she feels both the state and the judiciary are limiting the opportunity to voice such criticism.

ALSO SEE: VIDEO: Chaos at Quran burning in immigrant-dense district

“No Muslims on Our Streets”

One phrase is especially central to the prosecution. During the protest outside the mosque, Sandberg can be heard saying both “no Islam on our streets” and “no Muslims on our streets.”

The latter is important because Swedish law distinguishes between criticism of a religion and statements that express contempt toward a protected group.

Muslims raise the Quran at Medborgarplatsen, Stockholm. Photo: Facsimile Facebook.

The Supreme Court has previously determined that Muslims are included in the regulation regarding incitement against an ethnic group, while religious criticism itself is not forbidden.

The investigation includes both “no Islam on our streets” and “no Muslims on our streets.” Is there anything in this where you yourself think you crossed a line?

– I don’t think I crossed any line.

Sandberg describes the comment as a spontaneous response in a loud confrontation with counter-demonstrators.

– I go to where the metal barriers are and see so many people there. When they see me, they start shouting and yelling. They are Muslims and I assume quite a few from what’s called the left side. It was packed with people. They shouted and yelled. Classic “no Nazis, no racists.”

That was when, she says, she answered through the megaphone:

– Then I shouted in the megaphone: “No Islam on our streets, no Muslims on our streets.” So it just came up in me.

She thus stands by the fact that she uttered the words but denies that she thereby committed a crime.

Sandberg is meanwhile pessimistic about the trial.

– I think the chance that I’ll be acquitted is small. Because they have convicted basically all the others. Everyone else of us, anyway.

Sharp Attack Against the Church of Sweden

Sandberg’s criticism does not stop at Islam or the judiciary. She also directs harsh criticism toward the Church of Sweden and other Christian denominations, which she believes have abandoned central parts of the Christian faith.

Christians have gotten it into their heads that you should tolerate and accept absolutely everything and turn the other cheek. And you should just tolerate everything. That’s a complete lie. Jesus Christ certainly didn’t tolerate everything.

Priest Jade Sandberg

She points in particular to interreligious work, the Church of Sweden’s relationship with Islam, and other religious elements that occur in church contexts.

– For quite some time, they’ve deviated from the message of the Bible. They’ve gone away from what it says there, she says.

One current and four former archbishops: Martin Modéus, Antje Jackelén, Anders Wejryd, KG Hammar, and Gunnar Weman (died 2024). Photo: Magnus Aronson/Ikon

In Sandberg’s religious worldview, this is not just a question of a more liberal theology. She puts it much more harshly:

– So they’ve actually let in Satan himself.

She also opposes what she describes as the notion that Christianity means accepting everything.

– Christians have gotten it into their heads that you should tolerate and accept absolutely everything and turn the other cheek. And you should just tolerate everything. That’s a complete lie. Jesus Christ certainly didn’t tolerate everything.

“My Security Situation Is Not Good”

Sandberg’s public appearances have had personal consequences.

You have received both threats and harassment. What is your security situation like today?

– My security situation, it’s not good. I can’t say that it is.

She explains that the threats vary in severity.

– I live under both threats and, what can I say, more severe threats that maybe are not direct death threats, and then there are death threats too. So it’s both. I don’t live well that way, I can say.

I went out trying to be polite and friendly and everything. But the police have really shown what they’re about. Zero percent. I don’t trust them.

Priest Jade Sandberg

Sandberg says people recognize her when she is out in public and that she constantly has to be mindful of her surroundings. At the same time, she says she also meets people who come up and praise her work.

Accuses Police of Lying

Before the trial, Sandberg also makes serious accusations regarding police handling of the investigation. She recounts a police interview where she said she objected to being videotaped. According to Sandberg, the investigating officer claimed the prosecutor had decided that the interview would be recorded with both audio and video.

Sandberg claims that her lawyer got a different message directly from the prosecutor the next day — that no such directive had been given.

The information is Sandberg’s own account of the incident, and Samnytt has so far not been able to verify her accusation against the officer in question.

She also claims there are additional circumstances in the investigation material that she believes show how she has been treated by authorities.

What is your confidence in Swedish police and the Swedish judiciary at present?

– Zero percent. She continues:

– I went out trying to be polite and friendly and everything. But the police have really shown what they’re about. Zero percent. I don’t trust them.

For Sandberg, the upcoming trial has thus become bigger than just the issue of what she said during two demonstrations in spring 2024. She sees the process as a battle over the possibility to publicly attack a religion she considers incompatible with her Christian faith.

Sandberg argues that during the demonstrations, she expressed her criticism of Islam in her own way but never incited violence.

The remaining question to be judged by the court is whether Sandberg’s actions and statements stayed within the bounds of protected religious criticism and opinion-making — or if they crossed the legal line and expressed contempt toward Muslims as a group.