Suspects held for racist texts on Rotterdam bridge linked to White Lives Matter: report

Two suspects arrested for projecting racist texts onto the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam on New Year’s Eve are 34-year-old Daniel S. from Landgraaf and 24-year-old John A. from Zwijndrecht. Both are familiar faces in the right-wing extremist group White Lives Matter Netherlands, AD reports based on information from the anti-fascist research group Kafka.

Kafka identified the two in multiple photos it took of several far-right demonstrations. In several photos, the two can be seen holding a White Lives Matter banner with reference to their Telegram channel - the same channel that claimed the racism on the Erasmus Bridge shortly after it happened.

Earlier on 31 December 2022, someone with the username Derpman wrote on that Telegram channel that he’d be doing “activism” that day. “If I am not back online tomorrow, I’m probably in jail,” he wrote, according to AD. NRC reported that this same Derpman said in a podcast that he has a “semi-automatic crossbow” at home which he’d use if opponents showed up at his home.

When the police searched the suspects’ homes after their arrests, they found a crossbow and 3D-printed weapon parts.

Daniel S. is also suspected of involvement in projecting racist slogans onto the city hall building in Eindhoven last week, and the police also linked John A. to a similar incident in Alkmaar in January.