The horse and his rider were in the city for the demonstration of Pegida and a counter-demonstration of Antifa, Dutch news agency ANP reported.
The announced Pegida demonstration attracted some hundred counter-demonstrators to the city center of Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. At an asylum seekers’ center, where Pegida supporters had gathered, the police drove the demonstrators apart.
The police force, massively present, had to form cordons with horses and vehicles to prevent both Antifa from attacking the peaceful marchers.
The approximately twenty members of Pegida were allowed to walk around the edge of the city center, but were outnumbered. The police prevented a charge by their far-left violent opponents who had wanted to disrupt the anti-immigration march.
The police horse died during the tense standoff, collapsing due to heart failure near the Tunnelweg, close to the Central Station, the police confirmed.
Nijmegen – Politiepaard verongelukt bij begeleiding demonstratiehttps://t.co/Hrz3zj84mu#Nieuws pic.twitter.com/OR41wNzTRi
— ⚫🔵⚫ (@PolitieFeed) November 26, 2017
The horseman survived the fall, but the horse died on the spot.
A counter-demonstrator who threw smoke bombs was arrested. A man who could not identify himself was also arrested.
#Nijmegentegenracisme Het was een gezellige, productieve avond gisteren! It was a blast! pic.twitter.com/FSv0esuwA7
— nijmegentegenracisme (@Nmgntegenracism) November 23, 2017
A police horse was attacked by an Antifa demonstrator in a similar incident this year during a demonstration in Harrisburg, Philadelphia.
Lisa Simon, 23, is charged with aggravated assault, illegally taunting a police animal, prohibited offensive weapons, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction administrative law.
During a demonstration at the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex in Harrisburg against Sharia, the attacker drove a spiked pole into the neck of the animal.
According to Antifa on their South Jersey ANTIFA Facebook page: “A comrade was arrested while trying to demonstrate against an anti-Muslim rally in Harrisburg, PA. The charges are entirely fabricated and do not reflect what actually happened during the incident. […] It is clear that this person is being held as a political prisoner, and we must make it known that we will not be intimidated by a militarized police, that we will remain resolute in standing by the values of our movement, and that we will continue to combat fascism wherever it attempts to spread.”
