Unrest in Urk after 100 young people attack a home
The police arrested two men, aged 18 and 21, in Urk on Tuesday evening for involvement in an assault at a home in the Flevoland town on Monday night. Around a hundred young people gathered at the home on Monday. Tuesday night was again restless in Urk, with police officers doing checks and searches both inside and outside the town, a spokesperson said to NU.nl.
Among other things, police officers were stationed at A6 exits to Urk to prevent groups out to riot entering the town. People who could not give a valid reason for going to Urk, were sent away on Tuesday, according to the newspaper. Urk mayor Pieter van Maaren called for calm. And on Twitter a community police officers called on parents to make sure their children stayed home.
The reason for the unrest was an incident at the home of an 18-year-old man on Noorderpalen on Monday night. A large group of young people first gathered at a snack bar on Richel at around 7:00 p.m. and then went to the home. A spokesperson for the police told NOS that around a hundred young people gathered at the home and started lighting fireworks. The group of young people got into a fight with the residents of the home. The 36-year-old mother of the 18-year-old resident sustained minor injuries.
The police had to intervene, eventually resorting to using batons and police dogs to try and calm the situation, according to NOS. Officers from surrounding municipalities were called in for backup. Calm only returned at around 11:00 p.m. No arrests were made on Monday, because the officers "had their hands full" with trying to control the situation, the police spokesperson said to the broadcaster.
Young people from the town told NOS that this whole thing started with an argument between two young men. One of them, the 18-year-old resident of Noorderpalen, apparently said something insulting about the other one's girlfriend. There was a confrontation at the snack bar, which other young people descended on after a call on social media, they said.
After the incident at the snack bar, around 100 young people gathered at the 18-year-old's home. Some of them managed to get into the home and got into a fight with the residents. The mother of the family told Omreop Flevoland that racist things were shouted at her Moroccan family.
According to the police, the 18-year-old man arrested on Tuesday turned himself in at a police station late in the afternoon. He is suspected of involvement in Monday night's assault. The 21-year-old man was arrested at around 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday. He was seen on a video circulating on social media, in which he used threatening language and showed a weapon, the police said in a statement. The police said that the motive for this incident lies in the "relationship sphere".
De Stentor reports that some of the young people were shouting "Geertje Wilders" at the home. DENK wants to know why. The PVV in Urk said that there is no link with the party and called on everyone to await the police investigation.
