We all love Introduction Week for university students, right? Wrong. Unless you’re a student or attending the events it’s just a big week of groups of students vomiting on the cobblestones and peeing in the canals. Ah, the future world leaders.
But things got even more out of control this week in Utrecht, when a group of students hanging out on a local lawn took being drunk and disorderly too far.
DUIC reports that the group of students were drinking in a park on Paardenveld. When nature called, they went into the nearby bar Roost aan de Singel to relieve themselves. When you gotta go, you gotta go. But, you should definitely be polite. These students were not, says Sidney Ruben, owner of Roost.
How did it begin?
“The group used our facilities constantly,” he told DUIC. “If that all happens neatly, then you can. However, they had drunk so much that they became very annoying.”
The students were not drinking at Roost, he continued, but just using the toilet facilities. They began to be unruly towards staff.
“I told them to behave, that things could no longer continue. But after I warned them for the third time, they started saying unpleasant things. I then called the police,” Ruben said.
That’s when things really started to heat up. When police arrived they requested the students would move on. Drunk students being drunk students, they flat-out refused. After twenty-minutes of negotiations, the police had to resort to using force.
What happened when it escalated?
Let’s get to the good stuff. A video released on Twitter shows police agents pushing the students along while they yell back at the enforcers. A fight between a male police officer and a female student breaks out, and two girls get pushed to the ground in the process. One is pinned by the police-officer who begins to pull out handcuffs.
Note to Anne-Fleur: Nooit ‘kom dan’ tegen een agent zeggen #introweken pic.twitter.com/0sWQ7SjHYW
— Jean-Paul Rison (@JeanPaulRison) August 27, 2019
What has been the fallout?
The Utrecht Police released a statement in relation to the events, stating three of the students were arrested and that the police had to use the baton on several of the party-goers.
They warned that the police need to ensure Utrecht is liveable for students and non-students alike, and that sometimes they are forced to take action.
“If they do not cooperate we have no option but to arrest them, and if they are resisting or not cooperating, we may have to use violence.”
The student association Veritas also commented on the incident after it was revealed that some of the offenders were associated with the group.
“The students were here on their own initiative. CS Veritas therefore completely distances itself from the behaviour of the students in the park,” said a statement released by the association. “Nevertheless, the board of CS Veritas attaches great importance to announcing that we strongly reject the behaviour of the nuisance-causing members.”
Veritas continued with a brief and simple message about the clash: “instructions from the police must be followed.”
Feature Image: Frame of video uploaded to Twitter by Jean-Paul Rison