– Advertisement –
Video footage of a forceful arrest at an asylum seekers’ centre in Zeist has gone viral, prompting Dutch police to disable comments on their social media posts after a flood of threats and abuse.
The incident took place on May 19 at the azc (asylum seekers’ centre) on Kampweg in Zeist, at around 9:50 PM.
According to a press release by police, officers were called to reports of vandalism and threats involving a knife.
What followed was captured on video and has since spread widely across social media.
The videos show multiple officers, a police dog, a man, and a woman. In one clip, an officer with a police dog pulls the woman’s arm forcefully, throwing her to the ground.
A man, who is confirmed to be her husband, then begins to fight with the officers. A second clip shows the woman being dragged by her clothing and hair while the man is pinned to the ground by several officers.
The woman is visibly heavily pregnant in the footage. She has since given birth to a premature daughter, she tells Al Jazeera.
Her husband, a 30-year-old man, was arrested during the incident but has since been released.
Al Jazeera reports that the man is a Palestinian refugee who had smashed a television after learning that a family member in Gaza had been killed. The police have not confirmed this detail in their press release.
In the press release, the police acknowledge the footage, noting that it shows “part of the events.” The forceful arrest is being reviewed, which is standard practice after any arrest involving physical intervention.
According to the statement, officers “acted quickly in a dynamic situation to ensure the safety of those present and themselves.”
That post triggered a torrent of responses. Comments on both the Instagram and Facebook devolved into threats and insults, directed not just at police but between users themselves.
– Advertisement –
“Criticism and conversation are good and important, but all standards of decency were crossed,” a police spokesperson tells NOS.
According to the NOS, the police described some of the comments as “serious threats” and said it was too early to determine whether any were criminally punishable. Comments on both posts have since been disabled entirely.
What’s your take on how this situation was handled, both by the officers and online? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
– Advertisement –
