Police arrest XR activists in Haarlem after defacing monument

The police arrested Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists near the provincial government building in Haarlem on Friday. According to De Telegraaf, the activists had not complied with a request to leave the building.

The activists defaced a monument standing on the site, with which the province commemorates colleagues who died in the Dakota disaster in 1996. King's Commissioner Arthur van Dijk called it "disrespectful and very bad." He said he considers the right to demonstrate a high good, "which the Extinction Rebellion eagerly makes use of. With some regularity, they occupy our office. And then they allow themselves to be peacefully taken away again by the police." Van Dijk argues that by graffitiing the monument, the line of decency was far crossed. "I deeply regret this," he said.

The activists occupied the courtyard of the provincial government building with a tent camp. The group wants the province to revoke Tata Steel's license, which would mean closing the company. According to XR, "Tata Steel is the largest nitrogen and CO2 emitter in the Netherlands and has been causing serious pollution of nature areas for decades that can even be measured far beyond the border".

The climate activists wrote texts on the windows with spray chalk. The monument was graffitied "accidentally," according to a spokesperson for XR and explained the person did not know it was a monument. An apology was made and it was cleaned up immediately, the XR spokesperson said.

According to the police, 18 people were arrested. The climate action group however, said a total of 21 activists were released.