Monday, 12 September 2016 - 08:35
Swastika, racist phrases spray painted on Zaandam supermarket
A swastika and racist phrases were spray painted onto the window of a Vomar supermarket in the Zaandam neighborhood of Poelenburg somewhere between Saturday night and Sunday morning. The police opened a case of vandalism, ANP reports.
A spokesperson for the police told the news wire that they are investigating who is responsible for the vandalism. An employee of the supermarket would not comment on the vandalism to RTV Noord-Holland, but did say the text and swastika has been removed.
The Poelenburg neighborhood made headlines last week after a news team from Hart van Nederland were threatened by a group of Turkish-Dutch young people while reporting on harassment and incidents at a shopping center in the neighborhood.
Zaandam Mayor Geke Faber visited the Poelenburg neighborhood on Friday. She called the young people's behavior "unacceptable" and confirmed that the municipality deployed more police officers and other enforcers to the area.
In his weekly press conference, Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the responsible young people "riff raff". According to him, it winds hi up that ordinary people feel threatened in their own neighborhood. He called on victims to report incidents to the police.
Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice publicly disapproved of the young people's behavior and expressed his confidence in the local authority's ability to handle the situation.