The 50-year-old suspect in the shooting in Weiteveen – in which two people died – and his wife made a statement live on Facebook. This resulted in countless expressions of support for them. How is that possible?
Images of the suspect went viral throughout the country. In livestreams on Facebook, the suspect and his wife said that he was driven to his alleged act by sheer desperation.
“It seems like he wanted to take some kind of accountability. To explain why he does what he does,” thinks criminologist Jasper van der Kemp. “It also looks like a suicide note. In the video, the suspect apologizes to his family. You also see this in people who commit suicide.”
Media psychologist Mischa Coster also sees the images as a defense or explanation of his alleged act. “But there can be multiple motivations for doing something like this. While it may be a tactic for one person to get a lesser sentence, for another it may be a way to plead guilty or express remorse. In the latter cases, such a live stream can give a person relief. Then he or she no longer has to carry the secret.”
Sharing statement is exceptional
The fact that a confession is shared in this way is exceptional, according to criminologist Van der Kemp. “There are examples of incidents themselves that are filmed. For example, there are serial killers who record their actions, or record themselves when they talk about it before or afterward. Then it is often from a kind of narcissism, to show what the plan was or that they are proud because they have not been discovered for a long time.”
But there are hardly any subsequent statements like this, as media lawyer Charlotte Meindersma also sees. “There are examples of young people who film themselves with a weapon or have themselves recorded while they are beating up someone. But that is more to act tough,” says the media lawyer. “When people make a confession, there is often a letter somewhere or they send a personal video. But most people don’t post that live on social media.”
Numerous expressions of support came in response to the images. People show understanding and call him a hero because he stands up for his family. A petition has even been started to have the suspect released.
According to Meindersma, how this is possible has to do with a primary reaction of people to the video. “They only know his story and accept it as truth, while the full story is not yet known,” she explains.
‘They’re not afraid of him’
“How the video was made certainly ensures that people are not afraid of him. He indicates in the video that he will not resist arrest.”
Coster understands that the video evokes empathy. “The video does seem sincere, especially when he tells who he did it for,” he explains. Yet he believes that the majority of people will condemn his alleged act. “But you don’t see that on social media. People respond from an emotion. If you can empathize with his story and emotion, then you want to make that heard,” he explains.
Against the police or authority
In the comments on social media, many people blamed the police for negligence. According to Coster, this may have to do with a degree of confirmation bias. „ Then people already have something against the police or against authority, so they are more likely to embrace the statement because it matches their own beliefs,” he explains.
Further investigation must reveal what exactly happened and what motivated the shooter. “Ultimately it should become clear what that statement is worth. It’s about what happened and what evidence there is for it,” Van der Kemp emphasizes. “In any case, it will be clear to the Public Prosecution Service that taking matters into their own hands is not okay.”
Response of the police and the Public Prosecution Service to the Weiteveen affair
„ This incident obviously has a lot of impact and therefore generates many reactions. We have seen that there are reactions to the incident in Weiteveen in various places in the (social) media. Images and stories are frequently shared, but this only reflects part of the background. This also provokes reactions, often towards the parties involved and in particular towards the suspect.
The police and the Public Prosecution Service would like to emphasize that two people were killed. They leave behind young children and other family members. Yesterday’s incident has a major impact on them and the reactions in the outside world make it extra painful. In view of the impact, we ask that the interests and feelings of the surviving relatives and other involved parties be treated respectfully.”