The Hague on alert after online protest calls
Online posts had called for a "Generatie Z Protest" on the Malieveld on Saturday 31 October. Videos from the afternoon show police moving through the city centre.
The Hague was on alert on Saturday after online calls for a Gen Z protest. Posts on TikTok and other platforms had called on people to demonstrate on the Malieveld from 2pm on 31 October under the name "Generatie Z Protest". Videos shared on social media that afternoon show police vans and officers moving through the city centre.
The calls had already reached the House of Representatives. On 22 October, JA21 MP Ingrid Coenradie submitted written questions to Justice and Security Minister Van Weel. She asked whether he knew of online posts that referred to recent violent riots in France and talked about heading en masse to shopping areas and designer shops in The Hague.
Prime minister: demonstrate, but peacefully
At his press conference after the cabinet meeting on Friday 30 October, Prime Minister Rob Jetten was asked about the announced unrest. He said the government was following such signals closely and that, where needed, mayors and local police would prepare well.
"If you want to demonstrate in the Netherlands, you can do that in all kinds of places and in all kinds of ways," Jetten said, adding that people should not misbehave as seen in other countries. He called it incomprehensible that thugs there wrecked the shops and restaurants of hard-working business owners who had nothing to do with the cause of the protest.
A reporter said some shops in The Hague had already been boarded up and asked what he would say to their owners. Jetten replied that the mayor and the police in The Hague would do everything to keep the weekend calm.
