Lochem man arrested for threatening to burn BBB party office

A 61-year-old man from Lochem was arrested Saturday for making threats against the political party BBB, including a statement to set the party’s office on fire, police said.

The arrest followed a report in De Telegraaf in which the man, reportedly the leader of the animal rights group Animal Liberation Front (ALF), explicitly threatened the party’s premises. “We won’t touch Caroline van der Plas, but that office of the party will get it,” he said in the article. “Set it on fire.”

Police in Overijssel confirmed the arrest on social media platform X Saturday evening. “He was detained for expressing threats toward, among others, the political party BBB,” the statement said. “We are investigating the nature of these threats.”

The comments caused widespread outrage on social media. BBB parliamentary leader Caroline van der Plas said, “I find it completely outrageous that people like this are allowed to roam freely.”