Mayor calls attackers 'scum' after windows smashed at IJsselstein town hall and theater
People damaged the IJsselstein town hall and adjacent Fulcotheater in an overnight attack, smashing multiple windows with bricks around 1:45 a.m. Sunday, NOS reported. A Dutch flag was hung upside down at the entrance with stickers reading “corrupt,” and a security camera aimed at the building was covered with the same stickers.
Mayor Ester Weststeijn condemned those responsible. “The people who have the terror of last night on their conscience are scum. They chose a totally unacceptable route to express their emotions about refugee housing,” she told the ANP news agency.
No arrests have been made. Police launched an immediate investigation and expect to release more information later Sunday. They have not confirmed a link to protests over asylum seeker housing.
The Fulcotheater will open on Sunday as scheduled. Visitors will use a side terrace door. The main entrance remains closed because of damage to the facade and windows.
The incident comes as the municipality faces weeks of unrest over its plan to house 100 to 150 asylum seekers for six months starting in June on a grassy field at soccer club IJFC. The club opposes the plan because it already lacks sufficient fields and is considering legal action.
The municipality chose the location internally and announced it without prior consultation with the club or residents. A municipal spokesperson had previously told local media, "Suppose that you, in a very early phase, would say to think along; then you run a big risk that no one wants that and that there is no ideal location.” The council, therefore, deliberately chose to first find a suitable spot itself.
Demonstrations began on April 24 and were initially calm, though fireworks were set off. They grew more turbulent last week, with fireworks ignited and arson started at multiple locations that brought multiple fire department responses. Wednesday also saw fireworks. Relatively many young people, including an 11-year-old, joined the demonstrations.
Weststeijn sent a letter on Thursday to the parents of the minors involved. She urged them to address their children’s misbehavior and prevent further involvement in such actions. IJsselstein currently houses no asylum seekers but is required under the national spread law to accommodate 185.
Similarly, in Loosdrecht, a 34-year-old man from Ermelo named Brian A. was sentenced Friday in a fast-track hearing in Utrecht court to six weeks in prison, two suspended, for a similar attack on the empty town hall there over asylum housing plans.
He must also pay the municipality of Wijdemeren 5,000 euros in damages. The judge said a clear signal was needed: “I find that a signal must go out that this cannot happen and that this violence must stop.”
Police identified A. as the ringleader of the Monday evening attack. He and others threw paving stones at least 20 times at the windows. A. told the court he acted impulsively while drunk and now views what he did as “stupid, stupider, stupidest.”
