Criminals suspected of fuelling the flames
IN a country where daily life is peaceful, calm and above all ‘normal’, it was truly shocking to witness what one Dutch politician described as ‘an orgy of violence’.
On Friday night police and firemen were targeted by rioters who brought turmoil to the centre of one of Europe’s great cities.
Officers – in fear of their lives, according to Dutch police – then fired warning shots over the heads of the crowd and, it has been claimed, at some individuals who sustained injuries.
According to the latest reports, four people were apparently hit by bullets.
The intensity of the violence in Rotterdam and the trouble that followed in cities such as The Hague over the weekend has appalled many.
However, this is not the first time there has been Covidrelated violence.
There were riots in January around the introduction of a night-time curfew during the second wave of the virus. Now, as Covid cases surge in parts of the Continent, the reintroduction of a number of restrictions – a so-called ‘light lockdown’ – has intensified tension.
Fans are once more excluded from sports events, and bars and restaurants have to close early, as the government responds to record numbers of infections.
As in the rest of Europe, the social unity prompted by the start of the pandemic has given way to increasing divisions. But the authorities here suggest a level of intent in Rotterdam that goes beyond youngsters throwing stones or fireworks.
Minister of justice Ferd Grapperhaus spoke yesterday of groups linked to organised crime being involved. The chief commissioner of police, Henk van Essen, said people were turning up at demonstrations with weapons and protective clothing and that the clear intent was to target police and cause trouble.
The role played by social media in encouraging violence is one element of the debate. An investigation is now going on into the events in Rotterdam and elsewhere, with CCTV being scoured for images of those involved.
But answering the question ‘what happened’ may not answer the other burning question here – why?
‘Clear intent to target police’