Dutch citizens protesting COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns

The Netherlands is recovering after three nights of unrest in the Netherlands with rioters protesting the enforcement of a night curfew in an effort to curb the infection rate of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This nationwide night curfew was implemented in response to a new wave of infections with the British variant of the COVID-19 virus with the National Institute for Health (RIVM) issued a warning.

This is the first curfew for the Netherlands since World War II and Dutch citizens have protested every night since the announcement with massive amounts of damage. The scale of Tuesday night’s protest was massive across multiple cities in the Netherlands with nearly 150 arrests by the Dutch police.

Violent unrest flares again in the Netherlands as rioters battle police over COVID-19 restrictions — in pictures https://t.co/RqN9Sff30r pic.twitter.com/PJtQQ4y4lp

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 26, 2021

Rotterdam police-reported detaining nearly 60 rioters with 10 officers injured and two photographers injured for documenting the event. There were groups of rioters across the Netherlands protesting against the tough lockdown commits acts of vandalism, arson, and destruction of vehicles and property.

Non-essential businesses and schools are shut down since mid-December following the closure of bars and restaurants in October with Dutch citizens stirring on social media. Rotterdam police attempted to break up the group of rioters “seeking a confrontation with police” with the police resorting to using tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Final point on the Dutch riots:
This is the enormous group who probably get least attention of all: the ordinary people appalled by it all, doing their best to abide by the rules, and going out early with a broom to clean uppic.twitter.com/5EBOTaGrUF

— Ben Coates (@bencoates1) January 25, 2021

Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the actions of the rioters are unacceptable stating these acts of violence have nothing to do with protesting and should be treated as criminal violence. This is the Netherlands’ worst series of riots within the last four decades and the nation is working to recover from all the damage.