Rotterdam cops made racist statements over teen girl's murder: report
Rotterdam police officers who were recently reprimanded for sending racist messages in an internal chat group, also sent racist messages in response to the murder of 16-year-old Humeyra at her school in the city in 2018. "Another Turk less," the texted, NRC reports based on sources within the police.
Humeyra was gunned down by her stalker and ex at her school in Rotterdam-West. The man was eventually sentenced to 14 years in prison and institutionalized psychiatric treatment. Both Humeyra and the perpetrator were Dutch-Turks.
Rotterdam police chief Fred Westerbeke called the message "reprehensible and offensive". He told NRC that the message was cynical commentary on the suspect in the case, but he realizes that it could be interpreted differently.
In an internal blog, that NRC gained access to, Westerbeke said that more inappropriate comments were made in the chat group - on top of the comments five cops were given official reprimands for, and this one around Humeyra's murder. For example, after the terrorist attack on an Utrecht tram in March 2019, one cop wrote that the people who ride the tram through their Rotterdam neighborhood "can generally be exterminated".
The official reprimand for the racist messages led to unrest within the police throughout the Netherlands. Many cops could not believe that their colleagues got off so lightly. Westerbeke maintains that the officers involved deserve a second chance.
