Police investigate hard-handed arrests of Tilburg school pupils

The police launched an investigation into the arrests of three school pupils in Tilburg on Wednesday after a video surfaced on social media showing a police officer kicking the legs out from under a 14-year-old boy.

Three boys, age 14, 15 and 16, were arrested at the Tilburg VMBO school Campus 013, NOS reports. This happened during a fight, which around 100 other pupils gathered to watch. 

"I can imagine that the images come across violently, but the tension was running high", police spokesperson Pierre-Ine Mattheussens said to NOS. "Very coarse insults were uttered. We were there to return the peace." Mattheussens could not yet say whether the arrests happened according to the rules. "This can not be seen solely from the footage. This should become apparent through investigation and evaluation."

The school has not yet responded to the commotion. According to Omroep Brabant, the arrested pupils ignored to police's order to leave.