Civil guard Harm van Leuken (34) from Budel has instantly become a national celebrity. This is due to a video of the television program Khalid and Sophie that has gone viral. In the video he talks about the nuisance caused by asylum seekers in Budel. Harm thinks that he was dismissed as ‘crazy’ by one of the studio guests of the talk show. But that doesn’t bother him, because he is happy that he told his story. “I have had a lot of positive reactions, my phone was ringing off the hook.”
In the talk show report, Harm says he is sometimes called a racist. “But I’m not a racist because I still go get a shawarma sandwich, I go to the Turkish hairdresser and I go on holiday in Turkey,” he answers.
It is reason for studio guest and comedian Raoul Heertje to draw the conclusion: “There is finally a definition of a racist. You are not a racist if you eat shawarma.” The comedian further states that no one is afraid of Harm. “A fat man in a sweater that is too tight.” And then also say: “But we have to take those people’s concerns seriously.”
Politician Caroline van der Plas then stands up for Harm. “You are making a caricature of it. It is terrible that you show it like this and make fun of him. I have been to Budel and the nuisance from asylum seekers is great,” she says to the presenters of the talk show.
“It made me laugh”
“I could laugh at the item myself,” Harm said a day later in Omroep Brabant’s radio program Afslag Zuid. “I didn’t expect anything different. I didn’t know the talk show. People already said, you have to watch out, they are quite left-wing. But I didn’t care, left-wing people also have to see how things are going here in Budel. So I’m happy that I participated in the broadcast. It’s just a pity that the comedian thinks he has to dismiss me as a fool,” said the vigilante.
“I’d rather be a little fatter than a skinny guy who will blow you away,” says Harm. “And Heertje is right. I’m not intimidating. I’m just trying to make the village a bit more livable.”