It has been 25 years since the death of FC Den Bosch supporter Pierre Bouleij resulted in three days of riots in Den Bosch. Things got completely out of hand, especially in the Graafsewijk. From arson and vandalism to hard confrontations with the police. These were anxious days for residents and entrepreneurs. One of them was Danny Princen (60), who then lived with his family above his shop on the Graafseweg.
“I saw how the Mobile Unit (ME) stood with vans on one side of the street and how rioters on the other side pulled paving stones out of the ground and threw them towards the riot police,” says Danny at the building where his shop was located 25 years ago. “A war zone may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was really intense.”
On December 16, 2000, the riots broke out after FC Den Bosch supporter Pierre Bouleij was shot dead by the police. Family and supporters wanted to commemorate him that evening at the FC Den Bosch match, but mayor Ton Rombouts banned the match for fear of riots.
That actually led to anger. About twenty Den Bosch supporters left the pub on the Graafsweg for the town hall, smashed windows and sought confrontation with the police. The group of now a hundred rioters later returned to the Graafsewijk, where the confrontation with the police got out of hand.
“Everyone said: the shooting happened in the Hambaken, so fight it out there. But then you also have riots in a residential area, so that makes no sense,” says 60-year-old Danny. Ultimately, about three hundred rioters set fire to a cafe and school and bus shelters and telephone booths were destroyed.
“A friend of mine had just been shot dead by the police. I understand that you are angry. But there is no need to fight it out that way. Moreover, they were no longer just friends of Bouleij.”
“The violence was against the police, not against residents.”
Danny was not at home during the first riots. His wife with their newborn baby did. “At that time you did not have such contact via your mobile phone as you do now. I was worried about the rumors about what was going on in the neighbourhood,” he says. When he came home later that evening, it was quiet. But a day later, riots broke out again in the evening.
From his house above the shop, Danny could follow everything that was happening in the street. “I saw how a woman with a small child was watching and had to flee from a water cannon. That made quite an impression on me,” Danny says as he points to the place where it happened.
Despite the chaos, Danny never felt unsafe for a moment. “The violence was against the police, not against residents. Of course we were tense because of our store. I even thought about boarding up the building, but that was too dangerous because of fire. Fortunately, nothing ever happened.” After three days of riots, on Tuesday evening, there was a lot of police presence in the neighborhood and it remained calm. “That night we were able to sleep really well for the first time.”
“When I walk through the neighborhood now, I see a safe, quiet neighborhood.”
25 years later, Danny no longer lives in the neighborhood, but he still has two shops on Graafsweg. “When I walk through the neighborhood now, I see a safe, quiet neighborhood,” he says. “Everyone knows each other, it feels familiar. But the image of the neighborhood has always carried something from those days.”
Danny talks about it easily, but many local residents do not. “Despite the fact that most local residents did not participate in the riots, they are angry or not proud of what happened in their neighborhood. Those who have experienced it want to forget it or see it as a closed chapter. I can understand that, but it remains part of history.”