The two suspects who were arrested last night after the defacement of the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum and the Van Gogh Museum were released this afternoon around 3:15 p.m. A police spokesperson said this. The graffiti was claimed today via Instagram by a pro-Palestine movement, but the police cannot confirm that that group is actually behind it.
The Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum were opened last night daubed with a red liquid. The three museums were open because they participated in Museum Night, an event in which Amsterdam museums open their doors once in the evening.
Red liquid
A police spokesperson said that it is not known what the museums have been defaced with. According to a spokesperson for the Rijksmuseum, it is paint, but the police believe it is a red-orange liquid. What exactly the red liquid is is currently being investigated.
Pro-Palestine movement
The lawyer for the two suspects announced around 5 p.m. that the two were released earlier this afternoon. “The investigation is still ongoing, but the suspects are no longer needed,” the lawyer said. The lawyer confirms that the two used red paint and that it was a protest action. “They are artists who are concerned about the situation in Gaza. The red paint symbolizes the blood of the murdered children there,” says the lawyer.
The police are asking witnesses to the graffiti to come forward. The three museums were unwilling or unable to respond to the event today.