For the second day in a row, a group of farmers knocked on the door of nitrogen minister Christianne van der Wal on Tuesday evening. The farmers managed to enter the grounds of the house in Hierden along the police blockade. Firecrackers were thrown at the house. The minister was not at home, but her family was.
The situation at the minister’s house was so unsafe on Tuesday evening that officers had to choose their own safety. As a result, they were unable to intervene immediately when farmers managed to break through a police barrier, the Gelderland police reported. Police say the situation at the house is now under control.
The entrance to the house in Hierden was blocked by cars by the police. The farmers tried to push the police cars aside and knock them over. Not much later they managed to get past the blockade. Christianne van der Wal was not at home at the time, her spokesperson informed this site. Her family is.
Hay or straw, among other things, was blown through the street with a chopper. Firecrackers were also thrown on the minister’s property. A parked police car was filled with hay by the farmers. To keep the farmers away from themselves and the cars, officers were standing by with batons. About 40 to 50 tractors returned to the minister’s street tonight.
According to the police, the action “clearly crossed boundaries. A police car has been destroyed and a slurry tank has been emptied. The situation was threatening and unacceptable, also towards emergency workers,” the police said on Twitter.
“They really go beyond borders,” said police chief Willem Woelders on talk show Op1. “This is just intimidating and threatening. We will act against it. That demonstrators are standing in front of Minister Van der Wal’s home is unacceptable. You can tell your story, but what happened here is intimidating.”
On 1
@op1npo
Third time
Since the visit of a large group of farmers on June 10, the home of the minister has been secured. On that evening, the farmers of the Voll Gass action group came to tell their story and offer the minister a ‘letter of resignation’. A straw bale was left at the house. Straw bales were also placed in the street with the minister last week. It is not clear who was behind that move. Yesterday the police placed a security post at the home of the minister.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz (Justice) called on farmers to keep within the limits of the law in their protests. Rutte called farmers’ actions that lead to dangerous situations for road users, officials or politicians ‘unacceptable’.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.