Man arrested for threats to singer Douwe Bob; Said to lead far-right group in Amsterdam

The police have arrested a 38-year-old man from Amsterdam for threatening the musician Douwe Bob. The singer recently decided to leave the country for his family's safety.

The singer received the threats after he had decided not to perform at a Jewish children’s football event. The police got in contact with the singer as a result of the threats. Police have said that Bob made his own decision to leave the country, and he used his own means of transport to do so.

Douwe Bob felt that a previous agreement with the organizers of the football event to avoid “religious or political statements” had been violated. He then decided not to perform after all and left the venue. VVD leader Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius called it antisemitism on X, referencing World War II. The singer demanded an apology. Yeşilgöz-Zegerius said on Tuesday that she would not offer one.

According to the AD, the man responsible for the threats is Bob T., the leader of the Amsterdam Defence Force (ADF). The ADF is a conservative graffiti group with roots in the Ajax supporters scene.

The group claims to fight against what they feel is a new era of people coming into Amsterdam and taking away the city’s identity. They are also inherently anti-establishment with slogans like “fuck the police” and “Halsema Moet Opkankeren” a highly offensive term pushing for the city’s mayor, Femke Halsema, to leave.

The group has been a supporter of the Israeli bombings in Gaza. They are also known for being pro Zwarte Piet, which is the annual celebration of Sinterklaas in which people use blackface for the celebrations.

According to the AD, T. sent the singer a photo of the group’s location in Abcoude, in the area in which Douwe Bob and his family reside. “Half of fucking Amsterdam wants your head on a street tile,” the man said to the singer in a conversation obtained by the AD.

T. also commented on the “dead child” of Douwe Bob, referring to the singer’s prematurely born child. ADF’s original account had warned a day before the threats that they had obtained Douwe Bob’s living address.

The singer's group refused to respond to the news.