Although it is clear that the officer and Jouke are going to talk to each other about what happened, the parents don’t see the matter differently: “You can’t afford to shoot a trigger like that,” says the the boy’s father. His mother thinks that the officer should be taken “off the field” and take up a different kind of position within the police force: “Maybe as a director.”
‘I thought: I have to go, I have to go’
Jouke’s tractor was hit during the protest at the ramp to the A32. According to him, it “would have been so close and then I wouldn’t have been sitting here telling the story.”
There have been no previous signs of tension, or a warning, according to the teenager: “I did not receive any of that.”
At first he thought it was a rubber bullet, but later realized it hadn’t. “I heard a very loud bang, had a beep in my ear. I thought: I have to go, I have to go.”
Jouke was later arrested and suspected of attempted murder. He was released on Wednesday and the case against him was dropped on Thursday. The whole matter leaves him with “a mixed feeling.” “I’m free, so that’s a relief, but it did mean something to me that I was shot at. That does something to you inside.” When asked whether he is afraid, he says: “Well, what is afraid. You then have so much adrenaline, the realization comes later.”
Jouke really wants to tell a story
Jouke would very much like to speak to the officer, who is currently sick at home, according to Gery Veldhuis, the chief commissioner of the Regional Police Unit of the Northern Netherlands. “I would very much like to talk to the police officer, I would very much like to speak to him. He wants to talk, next week we would make an appointment,” said the boy, who denies that he has run into anyone or was warned by the police.
Jouke’s arrest and shooting sparked protests this week from activist farmers, who argued for his release. Recently, there have been many farmers’ protests against the government’s nitrogen policy.
‘We fear it will get out of hand’
Jouke’s mother says in Op1 that she will continue to the end with demonstrations: “But we do fear that it will get out of hand. Not from the farmers – it is all harmony, what we have seen is breathtaking… The riot police and the police are terribly worked up, they have no patience.”
Even when her son was stuck at the desk in Leeuwarden, Jouke’s mother feared a clash. When they heard that Jouke had to stay longer at the station, the woman knew there was going to be a problem: “Everyone was there with a mission (…) They wanted to take Jouke, and that didn’t work.”
‘Bang!’
On his Facebook page, Jouke explained his experiences after his release on Wednesday evening. ‘I thought I should get around it too. So I calmly walk over the sidewalk and suddenly ‘bang’ in my right ear.’ The farmer’s son then quickly ran away, he writes. ‘I think quickly leave, soon a second (bullet, ed.) will follow.’
Text continues after the video. Video: on Wednesday many farmers gathered at the cell complex where farmer Jouke was detained.
Farmers in front of Jouke’s cell
JARING RISPENS
‘I did nothing wrong’
They were released on Wednesday. Jouke later appeared in front of the camera for Omroep Friesland, visibly affected. “You were released, but you were shot at. If I had driven slower or faster I might not have been there.” The farmer’s son says he does not understand the suspicion of attempted manslaughter. “I was there for my future and I did nothing wrong.”
The trio are no longer charged with attempted murder. The Public Prosecution Service no longer sees any reason to do so. The lawyer states that the only suspicion of a criminal offense is “at most a traffic violation”, Storn told Omroep Friesland.
The boy is now doing well. Jouke does have a beep in his ear. “He’s quite upset, but he’s a happy boy. He was treated well at the police station,” said his lawyer.