New calls for riots in Amsterdam Nieuw-West tonight; Police very concerned
There are new calls for new riots in Amsterdam Nieuw-West tonight, police chief Olivier Dutilh said in a court case on Amsterdam’s temporary demonstration ban on Tuesday morning. The police are very concerned that things will escalate even further, Dutilh said, AT5 reports.
“There is a call: women and children stay at home,” Dutilh said in the hearing defending the emergency decree currently in effect in Amsterdam until Thursday. “That worries us. A lot.” The police fear that more young people will join the rioters and cause even more havoc in the city.
On Monday evening, the riot police had to intervene on Plein '40-'45. Things escalated very quickly, the police chief said. “At 7:00 p.m., exactly 7:00 p.m., there were six young people. And they threw some fireworks. Not even ten minutes later that group grew to 40 young people and shortly after to between 100 and 150. The colleagues at the scene, the community police officers, had to withdraw,” Dutilh said.
The rioters threw heavy fireworks and other explosives. “These are bottles with flammable liquids to which fireworks are attached. They were thrown at colleagues, passing buses, at everything, including homes. Name it. The low point was that a tram was also attacked, and the driver and a few passengers quickly fled. And then the tram was set on fire,” the police chief told the court.
The police arrested three people on Monday and expect more arrests to follow.
Things have been restless in Amsterdam since a match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday. Riots followed the match and Maccabi supporters were chased and attacked in several places. There is also footage of Israelis instigating violence against locals. Earlier, Maccabi supporters had pulled down at least one Palestinian flag and vandalized taxis. On Sunday, the police arrested over 50 people at a banned pro-Palestine demonstration on Dam Square.
The Amsterdam city council is currently debating the riots with Mayor Femke Halsema.
