Six months prison recommended for man who threw fireworks at pro-Palestine demonstrators

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended a jail sentence of six months with three of those conditionally suspended on Tuesday against a 22-year-old man from Almere who is accused of being involved in violence on May 11 against pro-Palestine demonstrators on the Museumplein in Amsterdam.

The man was part of a group of around ten men who went to the Museumplein to attack demonstrators after receiving a message via the messaging service Telegram.

According to the OM, the suspect, Ruben B., and his accomplices' actions turned a completely peaceful demonstration into “a threatening and frightening situation.”

B. and his friends met together on the Marie Heinekenplein, which is not far from the Museumplein, according to his statement. They were dressed in black as was earlier agreed and had face coverings and heavy fireworks with them. After arriving at the Museumplein, they attacked random demonstrators and threw objects, including heavy fireworks at the demonstrators.

Police were quick to act, with B. being pushed to the ground by an arrest unit even before he got the chance to throw a firework.

Prosecutors also charged him with resisting arrest. “I got very angry because they grabbed my balls,” the suspect said. Nine heavy and illegal fireworks objects were taken from B. The OM said the fireworks were incredibly dangerous.

The man said that he regretted his actions during the trial. In his own words and the opinion of the probation service, he is very impressionable. He joined the group because he felt that the demonstrators were “destroying the city,” he explained. “And because I have not belonged to anything in my whole life.”

The prosecutor responded to this by saying that although it is true that this period had violence in the city, this was not the case on May 11. This changed because of the attack of B.’s group, the prosecutor said. “Therefore, he contributed to the destruction of the city.”

A few days after his arrest, B. was released by the examining magistrate. He has been in custody again since October on suspicion of shooting at a building with an automatic firearm.

The court will make its ruling on December 24.