25 years ago, the Graafsewijk was on fire: buildings were burning, stones were flying through the air. A unique event in itself, but journalists were also in direct danger from rioters for the first time. Three former journalists from Omroep Brabant are now talking about it for the first time. “We had no idea how dangerous it really was,” says former reporter Nadine Kraaijenzang.
Gerard de Kloet remembers the riots in Den Bosch in 2000 as if it were yesterday. As a young radio reporter for Omroep Brabant, he was sent to the Graafsewijk ‘because it was restless.’ It was noisy, but there were no riots. “I had the feeling: this could be an exciting evening.” As he reported live, the threat quickly increased.
Groups of rioters set fire to buildings and cars and sought confrontation with the Mobile Unit. Journalists were also targeted. “I had once reported on football riots, but this evening was different. Rioters also turned against the media for the first time, because they did not want us to report.”
“It was too unsafe to stay outside.”
Despite the threat, Gerard continued to do his work. At one of the most intense moments, he had to flee into a house. “When the riot police withdrew, rioters entered the Graafseweg from various side streets. Suddenly I stood there: fire behind me, rioters in front of me. It was too unsafe to stay outside.”
From a bedroom he held his microphone out the window. “I wanted to take the listeners into what happened. It was chaos. Stones flew into windows. When the riot police came back with tear gas, I had to close the window. I got it in my eyes.” Gerard stayed in the house until peace returned, after which he dared to go outside and return home.
“We suddenly became a target for the rioters.”
On Monday evening, after two previous days of riots, cameraman Frans Kienhuis and reporter from Omroep Brabant Nadine Kaaijenzang are sent into the neighborhood. No one expected it to escalate again. “We set out quite naively,” says Nadine. “Let’s see what the neighborhood was like and what local residents speak.”
Soon the fire started again. When the riot police drive onto the Graafseweg with a water cannon, a group of rioters are sent in the direction of the reporters. “Suddenly they came towards us,” says Frans. He films the group, but the light from his camera makes them visible. “They shouted: ‘Are you filming us?’ Then we suddenly became a target for the rioters,” Nadine remembers.
Frans was hit on the head and they fled into a house. “We had to push the door shut while they came after us,” says Nadine. Frans adds: “I was really terrified.”
Panic also struck inside: rioters smashed the windows. Frans and Nadine were pushed into a firebreak through the back door by frightened residents. “I thought: if they come around the corner here, we will be trapped like rats,” says Nadine. They were lucky: the group continued. Later they were allowed into another house, where they waited for hours. “In the meantime, the editors casually called to ask if we could bring a tape with images,” says Frans. “They didn’t realize how dangerous it was at all.”
“You were targeted and no one asked how you were doing.”
Remarkably, the three journalists hardly spoke at the time about what they had experienced. “We just continued making news after the riots,” says Nadine. At the time, Omroep Brabant did not yet offer aftercare, as is now common. “Maybe also because it was the first time that rioters behaved hostilely towards journalists.”
A quarter of a century later, Frans and Nadine stand together in the neighborhood and talk about their experiences for the first time. “Isn’t it bizarre,” says Frans. “You were targeted, you were terrified and no one asked how you were doing.”
Gerard also remembers how he was so busy with work afterwards that he barely had time to process what had happened. “At Pierre Bouleij’s funeral a week later, you saw everyone collapse because of everything that had happened.” Only now does he realize how unprecedented that period was. “I felt threatened and scared. It was work, but because the rioters turned against the media, it made a deep impression. I will never forget that.”
Watch our video about the Graafsewijk riots:
