PVV MP: Let police dogs attack Almere rock throwers

PVV parliamentarian Barry Madlener wants the Almere police to set dogs on those responsible for throwing stones at buses in the city. "They should release the dogs on the Moroccan street terrorists who throw stones at buses", he said during a parliamentary debate on public transport on Tuesday afternoon, AD reports. Earlier this month several Connexxion buses were pelted with stones or otherwise vandalized in the Almere neighborhood of Kruidenwijk. This led to Connexxion suspending bus services in the neighborhood for a short time and later to a short strike by bus drivers. After discussing the matter with Connexxion, Almere mayor Franc Weerwind (D66) implemented a number of measures, including extra camera and police surveillance and removing loose stones from the street. Madlener expressed frustration on what he calls poor performance from the mayor in only admonishing the perpetrators. According to him, the young people in question "should be immediately deported". Other VVD parliamentarian Johan Houwers also expressed criticism on the young people causing trouble on the streets, though in milder words. State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Infrastructure is shocked by the youths' lack of ethics, she said during the debate. She feels that the matters should at least partly be resolved by the local authorities. "But that does not mean that nationally nothing is done", she said referring to extra security measures taken on public transport in recent years. Dijksma stressed again that attacking public transport staff is absolutely not allowed. According to her, each aggressive incident is one to many. "We have to stop looking for reasons, because this violence is never justifiable."