Rotterdam taking no additional measures for Black Friday after MediaMarkt chaos
Rotterdam won’t take any additional measures for Black Friday later this month after a sale at a MediaMarkt got completely out of hand last month. Leefbaar Rotterdam had pushed for a mobile police station and frisking people for balaclavas, but Rotterdam Mayor Carola Schouten and a majority in the city council decided against it, Rijnmond reported.
During the last weekend of October, the MediaMarkt on Binnenwegplein wanted to open for an hour in the evening and sell electronics at a major discount to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
The organizers expected around 1,200 people, but some 2,000 showed up. And 15 minutes before the store opened, a group of several dozen people in hoodies and face covers pushed through the waiting crowd and tried to break the glass as terrified staff members watched. The rioters didn’t manage to get in. MediaMarkt canceled the event, and the police cleared the square.
At Leefbaar Rotterdam leader Simon Cueleman’s request, the city council debated the event with Mayor Carola Schouten and alderman Robert Simons (Leefbaar Rotterdam), who granted the permit to allow the store to open at night.
Given what happened at the MediaMarkt, Cuelemans pushed for a mobile police station on Lijnbaan during Black Friday at the end of this month. He also wanted the police to enforce the ban on gatherings more strictly and explicitly check whether people had items like balaclavas on them.
But mayor Schouten thought that a bad Idea. “You have to put someone there who would otherwise walk around the entire shopping area and see all kinds of things. In addition, the police station is nearby. The police can be on site very quickly.”
“Let’s not drive each other crazy with Black Friday just around the corner,” Volt city councilor Imane El Filali agreed. “The time, the number of people, and the circumstances are completely different. Let’s not go overboard.” A majority of the city council agreed.
All parties widely criticized the rioters. Ceulemans called them “thugs” and said it was “sad” that they “have our shopping areas in their grip.” Serkan Soytekin (DENK) called it unfortunate for the “large majority of people who simply behaved and stood in line properly” that the event had to be canceled due to the actions of a few.
The ChristenUnie, CDA, PvdA, and SP called for a ban on commercial events if they require extra police resources. “I am completely fed up with the fact that such actions can only take place if we use expensive police resources for them,” said Tjaling Vonk (CU). “Those officers belong in the neighborhoods.
Alderman Simons pointed out that Rotterdam has allowed around 20 of these types of actions in recent years and all went well, except for the MediaMarkt. He, therefore, considers a ban going too far. “We should not listen and certainly not bow to the antisocial behavior of a very small group of rioters who ruin it for everyone.”
He repeated that the city will assess applications for night-time openings more critically. “We discovered too late that MediaMarkt invested too much in promoting the event. That is a lesson we have learned: no longer granting exemptions routinely, but applying a customized report.”
