On Saturday night, the police arrested seven rioters in The Hague after young people set fire in the street and threw fireworks at the police.The riots occurred on the second day after the police opened fire on the protesters in Rotterdam. The mayor of the port city called it a “violent carnival” and the protests broke out. coronavirus limit.
Elsewhere in the Netherlands, two football matches in the top professional league had to be temporarily suspended after fans broke into stadiums in the towns of Alkmaar and Almero. Fans were banned from participating in the games after a partial blockade in the Netherlands for a week.
Earlier Saturday, two peaceful protests against COVID-19 measures broke out in Amsterdam and the southern city of Breda.
The police said in a tweet that seven people were arrested in The Hague and five policemen were injured. A person needs to be treated in a hospital.
Local media Regio 15 reported that the rioters threw bicycles, wooden pallets and motorized scooters at one of the fires.
The scale of the riots in The Hague was smaller than the fierce fighting on the streets of Rotterdam on Friday night. At that time, the police said that three rioters were hit by bullets and were investigating whether they were shot and killed by the police. Earlier, the police said two people were hit. The situation of the injured mob was not disclosed.
The police said on Saturday afternoon that the Rotterdam police had arrested 51 people, about half of whom were minors. One policeman was hospitalized with a leg injury during the riot, another policeman was treated by ambulance personnel, and “numerous” others suffered minor injuries.
Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told reporters in the early hours of Saturday morning that “in many cases, the police believe it is necessary to pull out weapons to protect themselves” as the mob ransacked in the central shopping area of the port city. Arson, throwing stones and fireworks. In the officer.
“They shot at the protesters and some were injured,” Aboutaleb said. He did not elaborate on the injury. The police also fired warning shots.
The police combed through the security camera footage and expected more arrests.
At least 2 people were injured after Dutch police opened fire on COVID-19 vaccine passport protesters
Photos at the scene showed that at least one police car caught fire and another bicycle broke the windshield.
After midnight, the riot police and the water cannon returned to calm.
This is one of the worst violent incidents in the Netherlands since the coronavirus restrictions were first imposed last year. In January, after the curfew took effect, the rioters also attacked the police and set fire on the streets of Rotterdam.
Attorney General Ferd Grapperhaus condemned these incidents.
“The riots and extreme violence against police, riot police and firefighters in Rotterdam last night are disgusting,” he said in a statement.
“Protest is a great right of our society, but what we saw last night was only criminal behavior. This has nothing to do with demonstrations,” he added.
Police forces from all over the country rushed to Rotterdam to help control the situation on Friday night. Aboutaleb said that football hooligans were involved in the riots.
A social media video broadcast on the Dutch broadcaster NOS appears to show that a person was shot and killed in Rotterdam, but there is no direct news about what happened.
The police said in a tweet that it is not clear how and by whom the person was apparently shot.
An independent investigation into police shootings has begun, and the Dutch police do this every time they use weapons.
The government has stated that it wants to enact a law that allows companies to restrict the country’s coronavirus passport system to only people who have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 — which would exclude people who have tested negative.
The country’s number of infections hit a record high in recent days, and the new partial blockade took effect a week ago.
The local political party Leefbaar Rotterdam condemned the violence on Twitter.
“The center of our beautiful city has become a war zone tonight,” it said. “Rotterdam is a city where you can disagree with what happened, but violence is never the solution.”
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