Amsterdam police also get routine around climate protest: the blockade on the A10 was ended smoothly

In a friendly atmosphere, but more energetically than last time, the Amsterdam police were able to put an end to a blockade of the A10 ring road by demonstrators from Extinction Rebellion (XR) on Saturday afternoon. Two hours after hundreds of climate activists took to the asphalt, the last had already been taken away for arraignment at a location in Noord, on the other side of the city. At the end of December, when the protest movement first occupied the A10, clearing the road took several hours longer.

XR once again chose a piece of asphalt near the iconic ‘Shoe’, the nickname of the former ING head office, as a protest location. ING has not been located in this business building, which is now called Infinity, for years, but the activists want to draw attention to the ‘fossil’ investments of this major Dutch bank. The orange lion from the bank logo frequently appears on banners and protest signs.

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Just like at the end of last year, the demonstrators are not actively hindered by the police prior to their illegal road blockade. Officers politely tell demonstrators who gathered along the guardrail around noon that “this is not the place to demonstrate” and then move on. Some passing motorists raise their middle fingers while honking.

Just after twelve, the passing traffic suddenly thins out. It soon becomes apparent that a small ‘vanguard’ of closes. The three left lanes will be ‘crossed’ (closed) and the maximum speed for the still open exit will be reduced, first to 90 and then to 70 kilometers per hour. Shortly after passing the last car, the road fills up with people.

Dissolved within half an hour

The road taking follows the same choreography as in December. But the massive police presence took quicker action this drizzly afternoon to put an end to it, as the chief officer and mayor had announced in advance.

By order of Mayor Femke Halsema, the demonstration is formally disbanded after half an hour, after which the demonstrators are ordered to leave three times. Otherwise they will be arrested, whereby “the short and long baton and pepper spray” can also be used, sounds from the loudspeakers of a police van.

At the beginning of this month, outgoing Minister Dilan Yesilgöz (Justice and Security) introduced a new policy line in which she announced that she would take stricter action against activists who violate the law. “These are not demonstrations, these are not protests, these are illegal actions or even the commission of crimes,” said the minister, who also spoke about farmers’ protests and demonstrations where “reprehensible slogans are chanted”.

Two of her fellow party members, Daan Wijnants and Stijn Nijssen, both city council members in Amsterdam, will be on site on Saturday to see whether action will be taken more quickly. According to Wijnants, authority in the Netherlands should not contradict itself. “I would prefer to see the demonstrators stopped,” says Wijnants, “but that is not realistic.” Then disband and remove it as quickly as possible “with more buses than last time,” he hopes. And as far as both VVD members are concerned, every road occupier will receive a fine.

Mop orchestra

Just after 1 p.m. the first city buses arrive and half an hour later the first demonstrators are led or lifted away. The demonstrators maintain a good atmosphere during their collective arrest, although according to their own estimates their number this Saturday is considerably lower than in December. Like the XR mop orchestra ‘When The Saints Go Marching In‘ bet, the slogan sounds: “We will be back, again, with much more”.

An hour later the last ones are on the bus. A total of 326 arrested people were removed and four cars were confiscated, the police later reported. In addition to their “administrative relocation”, the 295 road occupiers do not have to fear “any further follow-up” for their participation in the protest, explains police spokesperson Esther Izaks.

After the previous acquittal of XR activists who blocked roads, the Public Prosecution Service is considering no longer prosecuting these large numbers. Izaks: “The size of the number of people you deal with here and the impact on the police and the judiciary to ultimately impose a fine means that the choice has been made: that is simply not feasible in terms of capacity. ”

This approach does not apply to the other 31 demonstrators who were arrested at the vanguard blockade around the junction with the A4. Just like the six XR activists who were the first to take to the highway at the end of December, they will probably also receive a fine of 200 euros.

‘Peaceful but extremely dangerous’

According to spokesperson Izaks, the police are satisfied that the protest ended just as peacefully, but more smoothly than the last time. At the same time, she says, blocking busy highways remains “life-threatening.”

In addition, managing this protest properly costs the police a lot of manpower, says Izaks. “There are 1,600 demonstrations in the city every year by action groups, large and small, that want to make their voices heard. If everyone wants to stand on the ring road: that is not possible.” The “hundreds” of officers who were needed on the A10, she says, “could have taken a report on a day like today or visited a vulnerable young person in the neighborhood.”

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