In Leeuwarden and Oudemirdum police struggled to control parties and gatherings, with seven arrested
Translated by Thomas Ansell
People celebrating King’s Day and the police clashed in multiple places in Friesland yesterday, as both the police and ME (a special police division for ‘restoring public peace’) struggled to contain gatherings of people.
In Oudemidrum (Gemeente De Fryske Marren), large numbers of people confronted police in woodland and lit a large fire. Officers were pelted with wood, with one injured, and seven people were arrested. More arrests may follow, says the Gemeente. As reported by the Omrop Fryslân.
The Mayor of De Fryske Marren, Fred Veenstra, asked police to clear the forest after the fire was lit. “In consultation with the fire service it was decided that there was a risk of a large forest fire. Naturally, we don’t want such an occurrence, and so we decided to clear the area. We had to wait for the ME units to arrive from Groningen, which took time.”
Meanwhile, in Leeuwarden’s Prinsentuin, police were showered with bottles when they tried to enforce the final day of the 22:00 Coronavirus curfew. In total, about 200 people had gathered in the park to drink and celebrate King’s Day. At about 17:00 the city of Leeuwarden announced that the park was too full for safety, and asked people to avoid it.
Image via Wikimedia user Dickelbers. License here.
