Police officer to be prosecuted for shooting at tractor during farmers’ protest

The police officer who shot at the cabin of a moving tractor near Heerenveen at a farmers’ protest in July last year is being prosecuted. He is suspected of attempted murder.

The Public Prosecution Service has completed the criminal investigation and on that basis it has been decided to prosecute the agent. It is not known when it will occur.

A 16-year-old driver was in the tractor. He was initially suspected of attempted murder, but was not prosecuted. The boy participated in the protest and decided to drive past a police blockade, he previously told Omrop Fryslân.

The OM points out that a name and photo of a police officer are circulating on social media that are wrongly linked to the shooting incident. He is not the suspect in this case.

The police are not yet commenting on the substance of the case. She does write in a press release that society must be able to rely on “that we, as the police, handle our power of violence professionally”.

“An agent uses a means of violence if he deems it necessary in the performance of his work. They make that decision in a fraction of a second. Whether that assessment is correct is assessed afterwards. In this specific case, the court will consider this .”

The police are aware that the incident has had an enormous impact, “particularly on the driver of the tractor and his immediate surroundings”. “The impact is also great on the officer involved and his close colleagues. Such an incident leaves no one unmoved.”

These are images of the incident: