Criminal network behind New Year's fireworks attacks on cops in Amsterdam: Police chief
A criminal network is behind the fireworks attacks against the police in Amsterdam’s Floradorp neighborhood on New Year’s Eve, National Police Chief Janny Knol said in the television program Pauw de Wit.
On New Year’s Eve, the police intervened multiple times after groups set fires on Dotterbloemstraat in the Floradorp neighborhood. Riot police had to disperse crowds so that firefighters could extinguish the fires. During these confrontations, people in the crowds pelted officers with fireworks. The unrest followed tension in Floradorp after Mayor Femke Halsema banned the city’s annual bonfire due to safety concerns.
According to Knol, the attacks on riot police officers went beyond simply throwing a firework by hand. Perpetrators used “fireworks machine guns” against the riot police, she said, according to NOS. “These resources were purchased with premeditation.”
So far, no arrests have been made for the violence in Floradorp. The investigation is ongoing, police chief Knol said. “What we want is a complete investigation and not only to know who the perpetrators were, but also who was involved in the process,” she said. The police are trying to map out “the system” behind the attack. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a criminal network.”
The Amsterdam police were not the only officers who faced violence and fireworks attacks on New Year’s Eve. As in previous years, people attacked first responders in incidents across the country.
So far, 250 people have been arrested for violence or vandalism on New Year’s Eve. Knol expects more arrests in the near future, thanks in part to the countless videos of police officers being attacked circulating online.
