American reporter claims police abuse at anti-Islam rally

American journalist Kevin P. Roberson is considering legal action against the police for his hard-handed arrest during the Pegida demonstration in Rotterdam on Saturday. He was also assaulted by three officers at the IJsselmonde police station, he said to AFRO Magazine. "I will press charges for assault and also report it via the Embassy of the United States. I'm American!" Roberson said to the magazine, adding that his arrest was unlawful. "The officers had no reason for it." He later heard from his lawyer that he was arrested because he refused to show his press card. According to Roberson, this is a "blatant lie" because he had his press card around his neck. Roberson was arrested while filming footage for a film during the anti-Islam movement Pegida demonstration in the city on Saturday. The officer who arrested him put the handcuffs on him so tightly that he sprained his writs, the journalist wrote on Facebook. He was refused medical treatment because the doctor was too busy. The officers refused to call the emergency number 112. And he was only allowed to call his lawyer after repeatedly insisting on it. He was then assaulted in the police station after he refused to leave until the officers made certain corrections to the statement he made for them. "Three policemen came into the cell and said they would remove me if I would not leave voluntarily. I told them that I would not leave until my statement was changed and correct." Roberson wrote on Facebook. "At that moment a policeman put his right arm around my neck and held me in a chokehold. I told the cops that I could not breath. Then I was repeatedly beaten by a second officer. A third officer began to pull my hair. I was still standing, but leaned over to absorb the blows. I was punched in my body and head. The cop who had me in a chokehold threw me to the floor outside the cell. The cop who pulled my hair, took the time to take off my glasses. The cop who had me in the chokehold and pushed me to the floor, grabbed my head and hit it repeatedly against the ground." Robeson managed to capture his arrest on film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsKhjNB0HD4&feature=youtu.be The police arrested a total of 39 people during the demonstration on Saturday, according to newspaper AD. Most of them were arrested when demonstrators tried to enter the Wilhelminapier. The police managed to prevent a confrontation between Pegida and opponents of the anti-Islam movement. Flip Dewinter, chairman of Flemish right-wing party Vlaams Belang, spoke at the demonstration. He repeated the controversial statements he previously made in Dresden, Germany. According to him, the Quran is a "license to kill" and a "military handbook on how unbelievers have murdered and massacred."