Violence at Squatting demo in Amsterdam, 1st oktober 2010

As of the 1st of oktober 2010, squatting in Holland has been made illegal. The result is that hundreds of people, both Dutch and foreign, have been instantly criminalized. On the 1st of oktober, squatters and sympathisers in Amsterdam hit the streets in protest against this new law. The whole action went peacefully at first, but as the demonstration drew to a close, it was suddenly violently broken apart by riot police. I myself saw the whole thing happening and managed to get some footage of the events. I saw mounted officers running people down and beating them in the head with batons as they tried to get away. As I tried to flee, I myself was also hit in the back of the head by a riot officer (right after the last shot in the video), but I got lucky and left the scene with nothing but a bump and a sore arm. I have seen people with serious headwounds, concussions, bleeding, heavy bruising, both men and women.
Regardless of who provoked who, I think the police acted disgracefully, despite what the major of Amsterdam Eberhard van der Laan said the next day. The Dutch news was innacurate, of course, and many false statements were made. Violence against riot officers and their horses was mentioned. What do you expect when dozens of armed officers wearing protective clothing with huge sticks come charging at you and begin knocking all your friends senseless? Does the government seriously expect people to just stand and watch, and give a toss about what is or isn't legal in such a situation? This new law should be seriously rethought, and Van der Laan and the police should both be deeply ashamed of themselves.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• kraken
• kraakverbod
• amsterdam
• eberhard van der laan
• politie
• ME
• police brutality

[nibo1980y]

ey, waar blijft die audio? :P

[ninjapiratelover]

zorg dat óf; de ME afgeschaft word!

óf dat de ME een cursus humaniteit verplicht word en dat elke ME 1 keer per week met een psychiater moet praten om van hun testosteron probleem af te komen.