Twelve anti-Black Pete demonstrators must appear in court today for breach of local peace in Emmen. The twelve members of the Extinction Rebellion action group disrupted the council meeting in the town hall in early November.
The group wanted the appearance of the Pieten to be adjusted during the entry. The demonstrators surprised the council members by shouting and sitting on the floor during the meeting. They held up banners with the text No Zwarte Piet, not even Emmen and Emma can do it.
One of the demonstrators took the floor and called on the municipality of Emmen to distance itself completely from Zwarte Piet. Mayor Eric van Oosterhout suspended the meeting and asked the demonstrators to leave the room. They didn’t.
The agents took the activists out of the room one by one. During the towing, they shouted ‘Kick-out Zwarte Piet’. Some refused to reveal their identities. According to the activists, the climate crisis and racism are ‘inextricably linked’, they later said in a press release.
(See footage from last November’s protest below, text continues below the video)