Three arrested after another night of unrest in Amsterdam
The police arrested three people after another night of unrest in Amsterdam, this time in the Nieuw-West district. The riot police intervened and calm had mostly returned by the end of the evening, the Amsterdam police reported on X.
The unrest started at around 7:15 p.m. on Plein ‘40-’45. A group involving dozens of people, many on scooters and fat bikes, committed vandalism, threw fireworks, and pelted cars and a bus with stones, local media wrote.
A tram caught fire after a firework was thrown into it. No one was on the tram at the time and first responders quickly extinguished the blaze.
At around 10:15 p.m., the square was accessible again because the rioters had moved on to Slotermeerlaan. There, they pelted police officers with stones, AT5 reported.
The police reported no injuries that required hospitalization. One of the rioters got hurt while setting off a firework. Paramedics treated them at the scene.
Parool reported that a boy on a bicycle got beaten up when cycling past the group. “People are agitated. The police really saved me,” he told the newspaper.
The police expect more arrests to follow. There is plenty of video footage with which investigators can identify perpetrators, a police spokesperson told NOS. Anti-Semitic insults can be heard in the videos.
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 Palestinian flags and vandalized taxis. On Sunday, the police arrested over 50 people at a banned pro-Palestine demonstration on Dam Square.
An emergency decree is in effect in Amsterdam until Thursday. The decree bans all demonstrations and the wearing of face-covering clothing. It also gives the police more power to take preventative action, like stopping and frisking people.
