Yesterday, at least 10,000 people protested against the hard lockdown at Amsterdams’ Museumplein, leading to 31 arrests and four wounded police officers.
The Dutch government had banned the protest earlier that week on Thursday, reports the NOS. Reasons were concerns regarding adherence to standing coronavirus measures and potential outbreaks of violence — some protestors said online that they would bring weapons.
Just a “coffee date”
To sidestep the banning of the protest, the event was advertised online as ‘coffee-drinking’ (het koffie drinken), reports De Telegraaf.
Unfortunately, the atmosphere didn’t turn out as chipper as implied. The police made 31 arrests for different reasons: causing civil unrest, failure to identify oneself to the police, violence against the police, and possession of weaponry.
When protestors tried to break through a police blockade, four police officers and an unreported number of protestors got injured.
Round two
After a couple of hours, protestors dispersed to join a registered protest in Westerpark. Despite that, the police declared the Museumplein an ‘unsafe zone’ (veligheidsrisicogebied) until 11 PM.
Organizers have announced a second protest on January 16.
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Feature Image: Joeppoulssen/Depositphotos
