Four to be prosecuted for abusing anti-Blackface protestors at Sinterklaas arrival

Four men are facing prosecution over rioting that took place near a Sinterklaas arrival party in Staphorst, Overijssel last year. The Public Prosecution Service in Oost-Nederland accused the men of being involved in the blockade that attempted to prevent a group of activists from appearing in Staphorst to protest against the use of blackface by actors portraying Sinterklaas assistants Zwarte Piet.

Prosecutors announced their intention on Wednesday to pursue a case against several suspects. The four men are accused of working together to commit acts of public violence "against persons and goods, namely against cars and the occupants of those cars," the Public Prosecution Service said. Three of them are from Staphorst, and are aged 20, 22, and 27. A 39-year-old man from Twenterand, about 40 kilometers further east, will also be prosecuted.

The incident happened at the off-ramp from the A28 highway in Staphorst on November 19. Nine vehicles with activists from Kick Out Zwarte Piet and Amnesty International were on their way to the protest, accompanied by two unmarked police cars.“Unfortunately, several demonstrators and observers became detached from the column and encountered rioters at the bottom of the A28 exit,” police said days later.

A large number of counter-protestors, including a group of angry men in blackface makeup, surrounded the cars, threw eggs and smoke bombs at them, and waved flares against the vehicle windows. Police did not intervene in the abuse, no arrests were made, and the protestors were escorted away to a filling station in the area. The Kick Out Zwarte Piet protest was ended by the municipality to de-escalate the violence, instead of protecting the activists' right to protest.

“Once again, our right to protest has been taken away at the last minute and the authorities have smothered us in favor of a group that does not grant us that right,” said activist Jerry Afriyie on the day of the incident. Afriyie compared the incident to what happened near Dokkum, Friesland in 2017 when counter-protestors brought all lanes of the A7 highway to a standstill to prevent Kick Out Zwarte Piet activists from reaching the demonstration at the Sinterklaas arrival that year.

Just like in 2017, the protestors made agreements in advance with the municipality in 2022. Political leaders in Staphorst were heavily criticized in a report months later suggesting they were naive for believing that a potential counter-protest would only involve people acting on their best behavior, and that those attending would not turn to violence. Police were criticized for their lack of response, and said later that their officers tasked with quelling riots were "quite hampered" by people who used tractors to block their path, or spike strips meant to puncture the tires of squad cars and vans.

The Staphorst City Council did denounce how the counter-protestors impeded others from exercising their right to protest. The Council said it "does not fit in a democratic constitutional state, and we as the Staphorst City Council strongly disapprove of that." They added, "Let it be a clear message to all of us: You must never silence the other person with violence and intimidation."

The four suspects will be brought to trial before a panel of three judges. Hearing dates have not yet been scheduled.