The Hague moves demo: no max to participants | Inland

“Should a situation arise structurally in which the distance comes into question, the organization is expected in the first instance to take measures. In extreme cases, the demonstration will have to be ended by the organization itself, ”says the spokesman for the mayor of The Hague. Initially, the demonstration would take place at the Koekamp, ​​but in order to keep a meter and a half away, a larger location was chosen.

The municipality is not concerned about the course of the demonstration. “The demonstrators have access to the largest field in the Netherlands. In addition, we have made good agreements with the organization, ”said the mayor spokesman. It is unclear how many people will attend the Black Lives Matter demonstration. “In the notification for the weekend, the organization expected 250 to 300 people. That turned out not to be an accurate estimate yesterday, but the organization has learned from that. ” It is unclear how many people are expected. “That is not very bad. There is plenty of room ”, the spokesperson concludes.

The local Hart for The Hague party preferred to see a demonstration ban. “Completely unacceptable that we get Amsterdam conditions in The Hague,” said councilors Arjen Dubbelaar and Richard de Mos. “Black lives matter,” but all other lives are just as good. We are in a public health crisis with the rule that you keep 1.5m away, then mass demonstrations are just a “no-go.”

Yesterday about 5000 people gathered on Dam Square in Amsterdam to demonstrate. The protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd in the American city of Minneapolis, who died after a heavy-handed arrest by the police last week, which led to a wave of unrest in American cities.

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema did not intervene when thousands of people came to the demonstration, so that the distance of 1.5 meters could not be kept between the demonstrators. That came to her a lot of criticism from politicians, but also people from health care. With the strict one and a half meter rules that apply, they did not think this was a good signal to the outside world. The VVD has requested an emergency debate in which Halsema is held accountable. “A vote of no confidence is inescapable,” Marianne Poot (VVD) reported to this newspaper.

Black Lives Matter Netherlands calls on the cabinet to summon Pete Hoekstra, the US ambassador, and to demand that the impunity for violence against black people in the US be ended. The organization asks participants to participate only if it is safe to do so. People who should travel far, or who belong to a vulnerable group, are better off staying at home. “The current restrictions put pressure on the participant numbers, but Black Lives Matter Netherlands knows that for each participant there are dozens of others in mind behind the movement,” the organization concludes.

–