A demonstration by farmers is underway in front of a police station in Leeuwarden in the north of the country to demand the release of a 16-year-old tractor driver who was shot at by police officers on Tuesday night and placed under arrest on Wednesday. “I don’t understand why the policemen shot at him and not at the tyres, after all, he could have died,” the mother of the detained boy told the daily Algemeen Dagblad. The RTL Nieuws portal quotes witnesses to the incident who claim that the police officers fired blindly.
Police officers fired shots at farmers blocking a roundabout at the entrance to the A32 motorway near Heerenveen in the north of the Netherlands on Tuesday night. The farmers were protesting against the government’s climate policy. Three people were arrested.
Mark Rutte’s police in Heerenveen shoot Dutch farmers. pic.twitter.com/plKIJUOW4M
— RadioGenova (@RadioGenova) July 5, 2022
Dutch police admitted that ‘warning shots and targeted shots were fired.’
Following an appeal by the organisers of the farmers’ protests, demonstrators gathered in front of the police station in Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands on Wednesday afternoon. Three arrested farmers, including a 16-year-old, are located there.
As police reported on Twitter, the teenager tried to ram a police car. At the time, officers were said to have fired warning shots. However, the media are reporting that there are bullet marks on the windscreen of the tractor.
The RTL Nieuws portal quotes witnesses to the incident who claim that the police officers fired blindly and the tractor tried to drive away. Three people were arrested at the scene, among them a 16-year-old resident of the village of Akkrum in the north of the Netherlands.
Kabina traktora ze śladem po kuli wystrzelonej w kierunku niderlandzkiego rolnika w Heerenveen. pic.twitter.com/lEdY2p0A1j
— Tatus (@TatusMilus) July 5, 2022
The justice minister announced on Twitter that a special commission would be set up to investigate the ‘gun incident’.
Protests against the government’s plans to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions continue in the Netherlands. Farmers have been blocking motorways and local roads in many parts of the country for days. Since Monday, distribution centres of some commercial chains have been blocked. The organisers have announced that the protest will continue and will be extended to include blocking access to airports.
Dutch police also arrested eight farmers who protested outside the home of Agriculture Minister Christianne van der Wal last week. The minister’s property was pelted with firecrackers. The demonstrators also broke up a police blockade and vandalised a police van.