Rotterdam police open fire as Covid protest turns
into ‘orgy of violence’
Seven people injured during clashes in Dutch city over
reintroduction of partial lockdown and plans for more restrictions
Staff and
agencies in The Hague
Sat 20 Nov
2021 11.24 GMT
Police have
opened fire on protesters and seven people were injured after rioting erupted
during a demonstration against Covid-19 restrictions in central Rotterdam, in
what the city’s mayor described as an “orgy of violence”.
Ahmed
Aboutaleb told reporters in the early hours of Saturday morning that “on a
number of occasions the police felt it necessary to draw their weapons to
defend themselves” as rioters rampaged through the shopping district, starting
fires and throwing stones and fireworks at officers.
“They shot
at protesters. People were injured,” Aboutaleb said.
A number of
officers were injured in the violence. Police arrested dozens of people and
expected to arrest more after studying video footage from security cameras,
Aboutaleb said.
Photos in
Dutch media showed at least one police car on fire and another with a bicycle
smashed through the windscreen. Police said city authorities had closed the
city’s main railway station.
Riot police
and the use of water cannon quelled the unrest after midnight.
It was one
of the worst outbreaks of violence in the Netherlands since coronavirus
restrictions were first imposed last year. In January, rioters attacked police
and started fires on the streets of Rotterdam after a curfew came into force.
The Dutch
justice minister, Ferd Grapperhaus, condemned the events. “The riots and
extreme violence against police officers, riot police and firefighters last
night in Rotterdam are disgusting to see,” he said in a statement.
“Protesting
is a great right in our society, but what we saw last night is simply criminal
behaviour. It has nothing to do with demonstrating.”
An
independent investigation into the shootings by police has been opened, as is
the case whenever officers use their weapons.
The local
political party Leefbaar Rotterdam condemned the violence.
“The centre
of our beautiful city has this evening transformed into a war zone,” it said on
Twitter. “Rotterdam is a city where you can disagree with things that happen but
violence is never, never the solution.”
The
government has said it wants to introduce a law that would allow businesses to
restrict the country’s coronavirus pass system to people who are fully
vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19, which would exclude people who test
negative.
The country
has reported a string of record numbers of infections in recent days and a new
partial lockdown came into force a week ago. Cases are rising across Europe
because of a combination of low vaccine uptake, waning immunity among people
already inoculated and growing complacency about masks and distancing after
governments relaxed curbs over the summer.
According
to figures from OurWorldInData, the EU’s average has quadrupled in recent
weeks, from just over 110 new daily cases per million people on 1 October to
446 on Thursday.
The
government has also banned fireworks on 31 December for the second consecutive
year. The ban is intended “to prevent, as much as possible, extra strain on
healthcare, law enforcement and first responders”, it said on Friday.
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