Rioters attacked Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) hospital in Enschede, the Netherlands, and attempted to smash windows without success, Sunday evening at around 11 p.m., following protests against the related health measures the coronavirus that has plagued the country.
“It is terrible that we are now targets. Especially the people who worked so hard during this crisis of the crown,” regrets a spokesperson for the establishment.
Images are circulating on social networks showing rioters attacking the MST. Police intervened shortly after, according to the spokesperson. “Calm has returned. We have deployed additional security at the hospital.”
Police declined to comment except for a tweet: “#Enschede of a video circulating makes it look like a hospital window was smashed earlier in the evening. This is not true. None. hospital window was not broken “.
Dutch police union fears unrest for days to come
The Dutch Police Union (NPB) believes the unrest will continue for “days or weeks” after the riots that followed protests against health measures in the country on Sunday evening. “I hope it was a unique case, but I’m afraid it is a harbinger for the days and weeks to come,” union director Koen Simmers told Nieuwsuur. According to Mr Simmers, riot police officers were beaten up in Eindhoven. The police had predicted that there would be unrest. “There was a lot of information and that is why there were so many agents in Amsterdam and Eindhoven”, according to the trade unionist, “It is not normal to attack police officers with lethal weapons”, said he added.
The introduction of the curfew this weekend was accompanied by riots in many cities. In Amsterdam, police arrested at least 170 people on Sunday. “The people who came down there come from partly well-known groups, such as political movements or hooligans, but there are also some very angry people among them,” said Amsterdam Police Chief Frank Paauw.
Justice and Security Minister Ferd Grapperhaus said: “Shocking images of riots, looting and arson are circulating. It has nothing to do with a protest against sanitary measures. It is simply criminal behavior; people who willfully attack police, journalists and other aid workers. Mayors and police have rightly acted severely. “
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