demonstrators, hooligans call them what you will but shooting people sounds a touch extreme.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59363256
Not great is it. What's next?
I’ll wait until there’s more details.
"On Saturday, people hurled fireworks at police and set fire to bicycles in The Hague, one night after protests in Rotterdam turned violent and police fired gunshots."
I'm dubious. How on earth do you set fire to a bike?
If an anti-vaxxer gets shot, at hospital would they question what they were been jabbed with?
Covid denying idiots are rioting & attacking police in Holland
Is the more accurate headline
How on earth do you set fire to a bike?
pretty easy if its carbon. Guessing they put an accelerant on to it and melted the tyres.
and police fired gunshots.”
I’m dubious. How on earth do you set fire to a bike?
Police fired shots, nothing reported about shooting at protesters.
And setting light to bikes, if they’re ebikes, then once any flammable parts, like battery cases, get going, then they’ll be bloody difficult to put out.
There are no reports of shooting in Belgium.
In Rotterdam on Friday police fired warning shots and, when that didn't work, there were a few direct shots because the situation was seen as life threatening.
Kelvin's post ^^^ accurate.
Live rounds. No reports of deaths...
At least three demonstrators are receiving hospital treatment for gunshot wounds, officers said.
I expect they deserved it, plebs.
I'm not seeing enough information to know either way.
I think it was on the radio on Friday, they don't use plastic rounds like in NI in the past they first warn with shots into the air and if they then need to shoot low at lower legs. Which isn't exactly 'nice' - protesters were shot in the knees
Table 1.1 of the shooting test on p6
Well, if you believe in your cause enough it will be worth it.
Bregante
Full MemberI’m dubious. How on earth do you set fire to a bike?
There's a video of it in the article, about 2 inches below the bit you quoted, and the thumbnail is a picture of a bike on a fire
A bike on a bunch of wooden pallets, which are all on fire, i think i can guess how the bike is on fire now ;o)
As for gunshots, i would seriously hope no police force in the western world would fire live ammunition as a warning in a city centre!
Hardly comparable with Tiananmen Square though is it?
Presumably a few shots were fired with police sidearms (I don’t know this for sure though), which is a long way from armoured vehicles and automatic weapons used indiscriminately.
Police spokesperson Patricia Wessels told the Reuters news agency: “We fired warning shots and there were also direct shots fired because the situation was life-threatening.
“We know that at least two people were wounded, probably as a result of the warning shots, but we need to investigate the exact causes further.”
Most watched
Witnesses with video of the riots were urged to submit footage to the police.
Perhaps the protesters don't believe in bullets,or even guns?
Everyone getting shot by guns in America each year is actually, in fact, being stabbed at that *exact* same moment but bullets are blamed by the huge knife lobby in America.
The bastards.
The whole concept of "warning shots" seems quite strange to me - particularly if people were wounded by them?
Bullets come back down almost as fast as they go up.
How very Dutch... burning your bicycle?
In the UK it would be a wheelie bin...
In France it would be a few cars...
Northern Ireland back in the day a Bus..
In the US Capitol Hill...
In the UK it would be a wheelie bin…
Looting more like ...
Well, if you believe in your cause enough it will be worth it.
I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.
B. Russell (1872-1970)
I believe that in Belgium they have special guns to give the impression of real gunfire, presumably for riots like this. But, all the police carry guns so I imagine there is a procedure for using them including warnings. Watching the footage we've seen so far does make it scary that they were used given the number if other options available to them. I'm wondering if this was some action away from the main area with riot police and all the usual stuff they have
Not great is it. What’s next?
I'd imagine what's next is the tiny minority of lockdown whackadoodles and vaccine warriors carry on while the rest of shrug and get on with life.
You're honestly comparing rioters angry at having to make minor adjustments to go to a pub with the protestors in Tiananman Square? And that the those health related imposition will somehow lead to a crushing authoritarian regime?
Dutch police are trained to shoot at the legs to incapacitate when needed. I have to admit I had a 'wow' moment when I heard and subsequently read that (link above) but there's the reality for you.
I guess the protestors got their shots after all
What counts as a "minor" in Rotterdam?
Thank god for Brexit, would only be a matter of time before some unelected bureaucrat in Brussells would be making us shoot rioters over here!
Rotterdam riot arrest total reaches 51, police confirm two were hit by bullets
How about: "Police confirm two people were shot."
Or even: "Police confirm that officers shot two people."
It's a very worrying state of affairs, protesters should be allowed to protest, even if their cause is stupid and they're involved because they're selfish arseholes.
in related news, everywhere I went in Belgium last week was not only able to accept a UK Covid passport in-lieu of their own 'Safe Ticket' but were also happy to take a BC / UCI Race Licence as proof of identity
also, nobody shot me or set fire to my bike
I see the remains of a purple anodised rim in that picture.
I have to ask myself if I would have acted any differently to the rioters.
It’s a very worrying state of affairs, protesters should be allowed to protest
Are they being stopped from protesting, or rioting?
Covid denying idiots are rioting & attacking police in Holland
THIS.
It's a fing long way from tanks & the Army being deployed in an attempt to quell a democratic movement by an authoritarian government (verging on a dictatorship).
Due to conspiracy theorists bringing knives, (and even a bomb!) to UK vaccination sites, security has been increased, not limited to bag searches.
Three EU countries bringing in mandatory vaccinations, and the rest are watching to see how much public disorder there is on the streets. Waves of home-grown terrorism are coming this way because of these dangerous nutjobs.
I lived amongst religious extremists (most from the UK/US) for years and see links between their thinking/behaviour. If the Dutch police are firing live rounds at these guys, then there's reasons that can likely only be fathomed by having their information, and being on the streets during the disturbances.
I wonder how many actually were there to protest and how many were there to cause trouble?
...coming to the UK soon i feel.
Covid denying idiots are rioting & attacking police in Holland
THIS.
It’s a fing long way from tanks & the Army being deployed
My point is that just because you disagree with their cause, you should be alarmed if an uprising is being dealt with so aggressively.
But also this:
Are they being stopped from protesting, or rioting?
Obviously I don't know the answer to that.
My point is that just because you disagree with their cause, you should be alarmed if an uprising is being dealt with so aggressively.
If it was happening this side of the north sea we would have the usual suspects decrying our descent into a racist police state
Dutch police and it's all a bit meh
I'd argue it's a policing failure that it got to the stage of discharging firearms and shooting people.
Its no more agressive than kettling, baton charges and the like - its just their protocols for dealing with violent disorder are different to our police tactics
Last time the dutch had riots and they were much more serious it ended up with tanks on the streets.
I lived amongst religious extremists (most from the UK/US) for years and see links between their thinking/behaviour.
A lot of this is being driven by right wing and Russian misinformation networks, supported by the way social media algorithms drive the content. The protests and riots are a symptom, those involved have been fooled into their beliefs.
I’d argue it’s a policing failure that it got to the stage of discharging firearms and shooting people.
It's valid point but without more information difficult to draw a conclusion..
I’d argue it’s a policing failure that it got to the stage of discharging firearms and shooting people.
Depends, if your protocols for dealing with civil unrest (above the genuine right to peaceful protest) include shoot to wound, and the police are trained in those protocols then has policing broken down.
Is it really so different to as TJ says baton charges, which have capability to cause serious injuries and broken bones? Or plastic bullets?
IDK why the Dutch don't have plastic bullets in their arsenal, but according to the radio report I heard they opt not to use them and instead use live ammunition. To the uninformed (me) it was 'wow' but there has to be some logic.
Baton charges and plastic bullets have caused a good few deaths in the UK
