The World After #4: The boat we’re in
door Sarah van Sonsbeeck
Riot Police intervenes during unauthorised protest on Museumplein
17 January 2021
The Riot Police ended the unauthorised protest on Museumplein, attended by approximately two thousand people.
The protesters had gathered to protest against the government’s corona measures.
‘What’s happening in the Netherlands right now is that we are losing all our rights and they are making protests illegal’, says one of the protesters.
Earlier in the week the protest had been cancelled by the organiser. The organiser did not think there would be enough space for all the protesters in Westerpark, the location assigned by the public authority for this protest. People communicated through social media that they anyhow intended to congregate at Museumplein, but the authority asked them not to protest. Many people refused to listen, however, and by the afternoon approximately 2000 people had gathered at Museumplein.
Around 2pm it was announced that the police would act against the protesters in a ‘phased and de-escalating’ manner. The protesters did not seem to want to move, not even after multiple warnings from the police, and so the Riot Police charged the crowd just after 3pm.
by AT5
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