RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Cops in the Netherlands fired their service weapons at farmers protesting new environmental reforms, with authorities deploying military vehicles in order to tow demonstrators’ tractors blocking traffic.
Social media footage appears to show bullet holes in vehicles, reportedly left by live police rounds.
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“A threatening situation arose. Warning shots were fired and targeted shots were fired,” local law enforcement said, adding that nobody was injured in the encounter.
Whether the police had received the order to fire live ammunition at people is unclear, but Dutch politics created the conditions in which the situation threatened to escalate ultimately.
https://twitter.com/BernieSpofforth/status/1544564862029807616
The government wants to eliminate 50 percent of the country’s nitrogen oxide and ammonia emissions by 2030. But this would deal a fatal blow to agriculture in the Netherlands.
Now the farmers are rebelling. They are blocking roads and highways with tractors and other equipment. Fishermen have joined in and are blocking ports.
Today, one of the airports was also blocked.
Pictures on Twitter suggest that the police deployed military vehicles.
There are more tractors in the Netherlands than there are tanks in the UK, Germany, and France combined.
Don’t piss-off farmers who own ‘armoured vehicles’. pic.twitter.com/jxvhlDE6Ia
— Politics Aired (@PoliticsAired) July 5, 2022
In 2021, the police shot at protest participants on the occasion of a rally critical of Covid measures. Again, the reason was not apparent. On several occasions, extreme violence was used against people by the police.
https://twitter.com/wa_kin_gup/status/1463681973214277633
(The behavior of the Dutch police during the Covid protests in 2021.)
The following video shows how an angry crowd chases and surrounds armed rioters. These flee in panic into a police car. These were paid provocateurs who were supposed to provide “pictures” to accuse the crowd of being ready for violence, so that the police can then proceed even more brutally. Such pictures are then also disseminated in the system media.
Niederlande.
Wurden da etwa die bezahlten Unruhestifter erwischt, wie sie die Proteste sabotieren wollten?Oops.
Aber hey, so etwas wie Agents Provocateurs gibt es natürlich nicht. pic.twitter.com/kvOSelSK7A
— N I K I T A (@sorryabernein) July 5, 2022
In the meantime, the farmers bought themselves a tank to fight back – at least that was reported. This claim is not confirmed- it could also be an “internet hoax”.
🚨 #BREAKING 🚜🇳🇱🇷🇺🚜 | Farmers in the #Netherlands have just purchased a British tank from Russian arms dealers – to use against Dutch police. pic.twitter.com/gfSle8VKFV
— Terror Alarm (@Terror_Alarm) July 6, 2022
WHY ARE FARMERS PROTESTING?
Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government says emissions of nitrogen oxides and ammonia produced by livestock must be drastically reduced near natural areas. These areas are part of a network of protected habitats for endangered plants and animals that stretches across the EU.
The government wants to eliminate 50 percent of the country’s nitrogen oxide and ammonia emissions by 2030. But this would deal a fatal blow to agriculture in the Netherlands.
In their message, the organizers call on concerned farmers and citizens to organize their regional actions to shut down all “food distribution centers and all major polluters” until “the government changes its plans.”