The aim of this article is to explore experiences of security guard violence in Sweden. Based on 15 in-depth interviews with citizens who have been exposed to the use of force, the analysis is guided by the following question: How are violent encounters with security guards in Sweden to be understood? The article highlights questions of race, class, and gender. It draws from the literature on police violence, transferring and developing its insights to the field of private policing. Adopting a multidimensional approach, the analysis differentiates between psychological, professional, and sociological explanations of the violence used by security guards, identifying a fourth frame: non-understandings. An argument advanced is that women in general and white women in particular grapple with their vulnerability in such situations.