Like a war zone
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Corona riots shock the Netherlands
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15 pictures Corona rioters cause violence and chaos
Photo: dpa / Peter Dejong
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Amsterdam / Rotterdam Looted shops, burned-out cars, streets full of stones and glass: cities look like war zones. The anger is great after the second Corona riot in the Netherlands. Can the violence be stopped?
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The Netherlands are stunned and angry: otherwise picture-perfect historic city centers have been devastated after the second night of riot in a row. “Like in war”, said a young woman on Tuesday morning in the center of ‘s Hertogenbosch. The carnival stronghold about 100 kilometers south of Amsterdam was hit particularly badly by the Corona riots late on Monday evening. Riots had broken out in more than ten cities – including Amsterdam, The Hague, Haarlem, Geleen and Rotterdam.
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The morning after, the police and mayor draw a bitter balance: 184 arrests, ten police officers injured in Rotterdam, the damage runs into the millions.
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Eyewitness videos and TV recordings show scenes of violence. The riots broke out shortly before the curfew began at 9 p.m. Dozens of youths marched through the streets looting and rampaging, smashing shop windows, knocking over cars, demolishing bus stops, setting fires and attacking police officers with stones and fireworks.
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The country is horrified and has many questions in front of everyone: What is behind the incredible outbreak of violence? And – the mayor, police and politicians ask: How do we get the spirit back in the bottle?
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It was the third evening with a curfew – the most severe corona measure to date was imposed for the first time on Saturday. Demonstrations against it took place on Sunday in Amsterdam and Eindhoven. This turned into violence when the police forcefully broke up the actions.
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The curfew obviously looked like a fuse on the powder keg. The coronavirus protests in Amsterdam and Eindhoven on Sunday were already overrun, says the chairman of the Council for Security of the Regions, Hubert Bruls: “What we are seeing now has nothing at all to do with curfew. These people deliberately just waited to riot. “
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The mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, stated: “They are shameless thieves”. The port city was particularly hard hit by looting and violence. The police used water cannons and tear gas, and even a warning shot was fired, the police said.
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The mayor of ‘s Hertogenbosch, Jack Mikkers, makes no secret of his anger: “Troublemakers, thieves, criminals,” he said on Tuesday. About 80 perpetrators had devastated the city. Some even tried to attack the Hieronymus Bosch Hospital, the clinic reported. Ambulances should have evaded. “That was frightening for the employees,” says hospital director Piet-Hein Buiting.
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“That was really totally disturbed,” describes a young woman on the radio. She lives in the center of the city. “They were mostly boys. Hood on, mask or scarf in front of the face, they weren’t women, no older people, only boys. “
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The description coincides with observations from almost all places. It’s mostly about teenagers. The youngest rioter to be arrested was 14 years old.
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What kind of groups are involved is unclear, says the criminologist Henk Ferwerda in the TV news magazine Nieuwsuur. “They are virus deniers, those with a political agenda and those who just want to hit it.” Anger against the government, boredom, hopelessness, the desire for rampage – this is a poisonous cocktail.
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The level of violence is unfamiliar to the Netherlands. According to the police, it is the worst unrest in 40 years – after the unrest of the squatters in the 1980s. But the riots are not atypical, says terrorism expert Beatrice de Graaf. “There was also youth unrest in the 1990s.” And recently there had been violent protests by farmers and corona deniers.
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According to the professor, what is new is that the unrest is mainly coming from the radical right. And the role of social media is also new. “You see young people calling each other on Snapchat and Telegram, and they stream the looting live. They even give each other points – like a computer game. “
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Groups across the country were able to meet up quickly using social media. The unrest spread like an oil stain. And politicians are now criticizing the reaction of right-wing populists Geert Wilders and Thierry Baudet. They would use the unrest in the current election campaign for the parliamentary elections in mid-March to stir up mood against the government.
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The police are doing everything to stop the violence. Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus promised that action would be taken quickly and hard. Violent criminals should be punished with express law and “if possible, with imprisonment without parole”.
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The government makes one thing clear. The curfew remains. “We will not surrender to a few idiots,” said Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra the TV broadcaster NOS.
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