Mob surrounding a police vehicle in Rotterdam. Twitter screenshot
Corona riots rock Rotterdam
Hundreds of people protested in Rotterdam against the government's plans for stricter Corona rules on Friday. The police moved in to put down the uprising in large numbers, firing live ammunition at vaccine critics. At least seven people suffered injuries as a result.
Published: November 20, 2021, 11:46 am
On November 19, 2021, the protest in Rotterdam was described by the mainstream media as a “civil war” as citizens rose up against plans by the government to tighten Corona regulations in the country.
The undeclared rally turned into massive riots with hundreds of people on the streets, fires being lit on sidewalks, police cars set on fire and others damaged. Protesters threw objects at police officers and firefighters. According to their own statements, the police tried to restore order with a large contingent.
Riot police and a water cannon were sent in, and police units from all over the country were brought together in the port city but eventually officers had to fire live rounds at protesters. Dozens of people were arrested. The police admitted on Friday evening: “There have been injuries in connection with the shots fired.”
A press photographer reported that dozens of shots were fired by the police: “There were shells everywhere on the ground.” He and a few others had fled to the nearest parking garage to take cover. He also said that protesters had smashed windows.
Bloed van de gast die neergeschoten is door de politie. pic.twitter.com/o3JFCCMjQS
— Bob van Keulen (@BobHGL) November 19, 2021
Vele tientallen keren geschoten door de politie toen ze steeds werden aangevallen. pic.twitter.com/JFrAWdlOmn
— Bob van Keulen (@BobHGL) November 19, 2021
According to the newspaper De Telegraaf, at least seven people were injured. It was later reported that officers in the ranks of the police had also been injured.
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb issued an emergency ordinance to forbid people to stay at the site of the riots as well as in the main train station. The train traffic to and from Rotterdam was suspended because of the riots, said the Dutch Railways. Traffic only resumed early on Saturday morning but a trail of devastation remained.
The political climate has been tense
Pro-vaccine politicians claimed that they were “shocked” at the level of violence on Twitter, but pundits on BNR television had warned that the general political climate had deteriorated due to Corona dictates.
The rally, which several organizations had called, was directed against plans by the government to introduce a 2G rule designed to ostracise the unvaccinated. Access to events, cafés and restaurants will now only be possible for the vaccinated and those who have recovered from Covid-19.
After a curfew was imposed in the Netherlands in January, there were also violent protests in a number of cities with losses worth millions.
The police maintain that they had to use live ammunition in order to prevent more violence, but targeting Dutch citizens is not a very common thing, especially in immigrant-filled Rotterdam.
Minister of Justice and Security Ferdinand Grapperhaus expressed his alarm at the unrest: “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.”
The United We Stand demonstration, which was to take place in Amsterdam on Saturday afternoon, has now been cancelled. The organization has decided to do so after the riots in Rotterdam, according to their Facebook page. The municipality of Amsterdam confirmed that the demonstration would not take place.
Police justify live rounds
Meanwhile, various senior police officers tried to justify the shooting of civilians. Gerrit van de Kamp, chairman of the police union ACP told Dutch media: “What is going on here is indescribable.”
Jan Struijs, chairman of the Dutch Police Association, also expressed his dissatisfaction on Twitter. “It is a crisis in Rotterdam. Police officers do everything they can to protect their citizens, journalists and the press. They pay a high price. Violence has established itself in our democracy.”
The director of the Rotterdam Rotterdam-Rijnmond Security Region, Arjen Littooij, says he was horrified to view the images in the center of Rotterdam.
President Gerrit van de Kamp of the ACP police union did not rule out the possibility that officers had fired because “the situation was extremely threatening and the officers were therefore forced to shoot”. He was also very displeased with the situation. “These are no longer riots, this is extremist behaviour. This is no longer normal.” According to Van de Kamp, a lot of damage has been done, but his concern now was to give support to his colleagues in Rotterdam. “We hope the colleagues get home safely.”
Mayor Aboutaleb acknowledged that the police had no control over the situation on Friday. Eight riot squads from all over the country, with about four hundred officers, carried out several charges. In Twitter footage, mobs can be seen chasing law enforcement and police shooting at them to protect themselves.
#BREAKING : politie lost waarschuwingsschoten in #Rotterdam Coolsingel – ME wordt door menigte verdreven#2Gprotest pic.twitter.com/hKSvazAaOq
— Martin Mourik (@MartinMourik) November 19, 2021
Signs above the A20 ring road near Rotterdam and on local roads warned motorists to avoid the center of Rotterdam due to the situation while regional security authorities also advised people to stay away from the center.
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Consider donating to support our work
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
Europe
The Ursula von der Leyen Affair
After a criminal complaint in Belgium against the President of the European Commission, the so-called SMS-case, now takes a new turn. The judge responsible for the investigation will likely gain access to the secret messages exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, at least if they haven't been deleted.
Publisher of Unique Literature Worldwide Blocked by International Distributor
Arktos has distinguished itself by publishing groundbreaking philosophers and social critics. Now, the publisher's international distributor has abruptly terminated the cooperation, and more than 400 already printed titles cannot reach their audience. There is strong evidence that the distributor has been under pressure, something that has also happened in Sweden. We have spoken with Arktos founder Daniel Friberg about the ongoing struggle for freedom of speech in a shrinking cultural corridor.
Care prompts bishops to criticize transgender ideology
The Catholic bishops of the Scandinavian countries presented an open five-page letter criticizing transgender ideology on March 21, just before Easter. The document primarily expresses care and advice and was read aloud in Catholic churches in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the signatories of the document.
Brits Forced to Live in Darkness and Cold
Food prices are rising at a furious pace, fastest in Scotland in almost half a century. At the same time, energy prices are at record highs. People are forced to choose between freezing or going hungry, and a majority of Scots are forced to live in cold and darkness to cope with bills. Old generations' tricks for saving and keeping warm are returning. Nevertheless, it is feared that 10,000 Brits will die of cold homes this winter. We present the Swedish Public Health Agency's guidelines on indoor temperature. Governments in Europe are introducing rationing and monitoring of food purchases. Net-zero emissions are a lie that, in practice, de-industrializes the West and dramatically lowers our standard of living.
Thousands of Flemish farmers block roads in Brussels against nitrogen policy
BrusselsMore than 2500 farmers from Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region gathered at Brussels' central Arts-Loi street and blocked roads with tractors toward Brussels to protest the regional government's plan to limit nitrogen emissions.
Orban: EU energy sanctions costing citizens billions
BudapestHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that some western states could soon send troops to Ukraine. He also criticized the fact that the EU sanctions against Russia had cost Hungarian taxpayers tens of billions of euros.
Italy: New leader of the Social Democrats is one of Soros’ ‘preferred politicians’
RomeDuring the election campaign, Elly Schlein presented herself as the standard-bearer of the poorest. However, her background and previous work raise doubts about her honesty.
UK greenhouses shut down due to high energy costs
LondonIn Great Britain, a particularly depressing facet of the crisis is now showing its first contours - and thus anticipating what is likely to happen in other European countries in the near future: because of the exploding energy prices, agriculture is being strangled and fresh produce has to be rationed.
Lisbon opens borders to all Portuguese speakers
LisbonNot only the German and Italian governments keep opening new paths for immigration. Portugal, too, has opened a Pandora's box and is paving the way for possibly millions of non-European immigrants to the EU – something which is not mentioned by the mainstream media.
Illegal immigration to Italy has reached its highest level ever
RomeIn Italy, despite the overwhelming right-wing electoral success in September, there is still nothing to be seen of the promised asylum turnaround – on the contrary. Giorgia Meloni has been in office for five months, but the arrivals of migrants in Italy have doubled compared to the previous year.
