Netherlands goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer says he's been a victim of racial profiling
Kenneth Vermeer, goalkeeper for Feyenoord and the Netherlands' national team, claims to be the victim of ethnic profiling. On Friday a video of him being pulled over in his Mercedes by the police was posted online, the Volkskrant reports.
The video shows a visibly irritated Vermeer repeatedly asking why he was pulled over. "What is the reason this time? Will I be checked every day? Seriously, do I look that much like a criminal. Because I drive a car like this, should I be arrested every day?" Vermeer asked the officer.
The officer replied that it was just a normal traffic check. "I saw you driving today and I found it a car of which I think: hey, that deserves attention."
The person with Vermeer in the car accuses the cop of ethnic profiling, to which the officer irritably replies: "With all due respect, the windows are tinted. I could not even see what was inside. The car struck me." That is followed by an argument between the officer and the passenger.
The debate on ethnic profiling in the police started up again last week after rapper Typhoon was pulled over in Zwolle because the officer found the combination of his age, skin color and fancy car suspicious. The officer admitted this to Typhoon when he was pulled over and apologized. Minister Ard van der Steur also approached the rapper to appear in a video to raise awareness on the issue among police officers.
The video of Vermeer was posted online by NiNsee - the national institute for Dutch slavery history and heritage - but removed again a short time later, according to the newspaper.
