Gilze-Rijen military air base was partly evacuated on Monday afternoon due to an old video circulating on social media. It shows a man walking undisturbed across the air base, past fuel tanks. In a message he says that his intention was actually to blow it up, but that it didn’t work. The military police do not want to confirm that this is this video.
The Facebook message was posted on social media early Monday morning by a man referring to May 4. He says he planned to blow up the fuel tanks at Gilze-Rijen air base, damage aircraft and steal a helicopter. “In honor of fallen Polish soldiers in the Netherlands and as punishment because the Dutch treat our Poles as the lowest in the hierarchy, even among Islamists, I wanted to teach them a lesson in humility.”
Didn’t work
“But it didn’t work. They caught me here.” It is unclear how and when the man entered the air base grounds. It is also not known whether these images led to the air base being partially evacuated on Monday.
What is there to see?
The images that the man posted with the message show his visit to the air base. He can be seen walking past the fuel tanks at the airport and filming military vehicles without anyone approaching him. The runway of Gilze-Rijen air base can also be found in the images.
The man often shares striking videos on his Facebook profile, including images of someone being held at gunpoint. He also writes that he lived in Tilburg for ten years.
Man has been caught and arrested before
The man was not found on the property on Monday afternoon. The military police announced around five o’clock in the afternoon that they assume it is an old video. “The man in the video then broke into the air base and was indeed arrested at this location a number of years ago,” says a spokesperson for the military police. “To ensure that no one is unauthorized on the defense site today, we immediately investigated. We cannot take any risks in cases like this.”
The images that may be involved:
