Municipality of The Hague/Frank JansenRobert Barker
In association with
Broadcasting West
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 03:01
The Hague councilor Robert Barker (Party for the Animals) received a blow last night during the suspension of a council meeting.
According to Barker, he was beaten by an angry business owner. The Hague city council held a debate on the policy surrounding beach houses on Kijkduin and Scheveningen, reports Broadcasting West. There was also a group of beach house entrepreneurs. According to the broadcaster, they were concerned because the houses were not included in the zoning plan.
Upset
“You might notice that I’m a little upset,” Barker said during the meeting. “That’s because I just got hit by the entrepreneur in question. That’s not nice. That’s why I have some difficulty answering, but I did my best.”
The man was expelled from the city hall after the blow. The man’s partner says otherwise The Hague FM that he wanted to shake the alderman’s hand and pat him on the back behind the council benches. According to her, that would have led to a startled reaction from the councilor.
‘Emotions at play’
Mayor Van Zanen then addressed the council about the incident. “A number of colleagues saw something and the person concerned was asked to leave city hall.” He said he found the incident “extremely sad”. “But there are emotions involved. I hope we can get back to business as usual, no matter how difficult and complicated.” He did say that the incident will be revisited “later.”
D66 faction leader Marieke van Doorn said at the end of the meeting that she wanted to encourage the councilor. “We saw that he was very upset just now. It is unacceptable that he has to do his job in this way.” The municipal council members then drummed on the benches to let them know that they agreed with this.
2024-03-15 02:01:05
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