Several Dutch cities have seen anger and violence from rioters riled up by the current coronavirus measures, including the latest ban on NYE fireworks.
The situation in those cities was described as “restless” for the third night in a row according to the NOS. Major destruction was caused, resulting in an emergency order to be placed in many cities — which gives the police more flexibility to take immediate action.
Rotterdam
The most intense action happened in Rotterdam last Friday. So far, 49 arrests have been made so far, and these suspects are being held in police custody on the basis of open violence, vandalism, and hindering or attacking aid workers.
Max Daniel of the National Police says that they’re shocked by the number of minors among the rioters arrested in Rotterdam from all over the country — half of those detained yesterday are reported to be underaged.
Police and protestors clashed
The clashes between rioters and police resulted in a large number of police officers suffering from minor injuries and hearing damage due to attacks with stones and fireworks.
Further, the total number of people suffering from gunshot wounds by police bullets is four according to RTL Nieuws.
There are currently 20 detectives deployed in a Large-Scale Investigation Team (TGO) crackdown to arrest as many rioters as quickly as possible.
Witnesses of the rampage and people of Rotterdam took down to Twitter to react in anger and disappointment over the violence witnessed by the city.
Leeuwarden
The disturbance in Leeuwarden took another form. ⚽ Where the Eredivisie game between SC Cambuur and FC Utrecht had to be paused twice by the referee, with both teams remaining on standby, due to fireworks being thrown towards the field and intruders barging into the Cambuur stadium.
The ongoing football season has already gone through a number of riots and disturbances. Currently, the Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus is looking into solutions to combat these disruptions.
Groningen
The northern city sadly witnessed the use of heavy fireworks and arrests last night, all of which prompted Groningen city mayor Koen Schuiling to issue an emergency order for the city’s centre and its surroundings.
A police bus shelter was destroyed along with several shop windows in the centre. Additionally, bus operations were halted on and around Grote Markt for the remainder of the evening.
Enschede, Roosendaal, and Limburg
Enschede also had an emergency order in place as of 8:30 PM last night, but arrests were reported over incitement and public violence. A group of five young people was placed in custody after gathering in the city centre in response to a call on social media to riot.
In Limburg, after a night of heavy fireworks attacks, the police arrested five people over possession of narcotics, failure to show identification, and assault.
Things were not much calmer in Roosendaal yesterday. The police reported several incidents including arson in a primary school, the use of heavy fireworks, setting a car on fire.
15 people were arrested in Roosendaal and the Langdonk district was temporarily closed to prevent more people from joining rioters.
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Feature Image: djumandji/Depositphotos (For illustrative purposes only)
Thanks for your reporting Farah. I just want to make a quick statement in response… It would be nice to hear voices and perspectives of people involved in these protests and riots. Otherwise, we know nothing about the ideas and claims that fuel these actions. Reading social media posts about these evnets, it can be very easy to quickly condemn a voiceless mass pf protestors without understanding much about these people. To be clear: I am not trying to explain or legitimate their actions in any way, but only pointing out that social media reporters have tendency to scan the situation ‘from above’ and fail to provide the public with a more nuanced and complex view of the multiple stories existing ‘from below’. I am willing to bet that people participating in these disruptions have a wide variety of agendas. While some mighht be mostly linked to anti-vaxx sentiments, others may be less “ideological” and linked to football hooliganism, and still others might linked to historical tensions that some working class and ethnic minority communities face with police and gov’t in general. Without getting at the nuance behind the protests, the situation becomes ripe for political manipulation. Would Dutch Review be a setting to promote such investigative journalism? I dont know, but it would be really nice to see it coming from somewhere.