Amsterdam mass beating prompted by victim sexually assaulting teen: report
A large group of teenagers attacked a man at Bijlmer Arena station in Amsterdam on Friday because he kissed one of their number on the mouth without the boy’s consent. The boy in question pressed charges of sexual assault against the man, who hasn’t come forward despite multiple appeals by the police. An eyewitness described him as maybe speaking Italian and around 40 years old, Parool reports.
The assault happened at around 9:30 p.m. at the Bijlmer Arena station. Video of the group of teenagers attacking the man was widely spread on social media in Dutch, English, and other languages, usually with accompanying texts promoting racist ideas. FvD parliamentarian Gideon van Meijeren also spoke about the incident in a parliamentary debate. He got cut off when he described the teenagers as “negroid primates.” He also called the attacked man “a defenseless white boy.”
The police have arrested seven underage suspects for the assault and are looking for others. They’re suspected of public violence and some also of attempted manslaughter. The police are also looking for the victim.
According to Parool, at least three of the involved teens told the police that “the white man” kissed a 16-year-old boy out of nowhere and without his consent. Several said that the man might have been intoxicated. “He seemed drunk because he was acting really crazy,” one teenager told the police.
According to the newspaper, the boy who got kissed called two friends for help. The three teens confronted the man, speaking with him until he groped the boy again, the teenagers say. The three boys then attacked him, and others of their friends jumped in.
Video footage shows the group of teenagers attacking the man and pushing him onto the track. The man ran across the rails and climbed onto the platform on the opposite side, where a train passenger helped him.
The police have spoken to the train passenger as a witness. He said the victim had several injuries to his face and blood on his head. The witness described the victim as a man of about 40 who didn’t speak Dutch and spoke hardly any English. He may have spoken Italian. When the witness offered to call the emergency services, the man told him: “No, no, no police,” according to Parool. The man took his backpack and boarded a train to Schiphol.
Lawyer Richard Sussenbach is representing the 16-year-old boy allegedly kissed by the man. His client filed charges of sexual assault. “My client now realizes that he should have reacted differently,” the lawyer told Parool, adding that the boy doesn’t have a criminal record. “The adolescent brain of a 16-year-old boy functions differently from that of an adult, especially if he is attacked with a sexual offense.”
Parool also spoke to a 15-year-old suspect, who also said he regretted the fight. His mother said she hoped the boy would learn something front his incident. “He is now suspected of attempted murder, and he is only 15 years old. I hope this doesn’t follow him for the rest of his life.”
