During farmers’ protests on Wednesday evening, the police two people arrested† A 23-year-old man from Hoogeveen allegedly ran into a police car with a tractor and is suspected of attempted manslaughter. A 49-year-old man from Emmen is suspected of driving under the influence and not complying with an order or claim. Both arrests took place on the A37, where farmers with tractors at Holsloot in Drenthe were blocking road traffic at the intersection with the N34.
About two hundred “sympathizers” had gathered around the farmers on Wednesday evening. When officers arrested the man from Hoogeveen, a group of thirty to fifty people would have tried to prevent the arrest. “In order to make the arrest safe, officers stood on the line with batons in hand,” the police said. The man from Emmen would have stood still with his car on the highway. He refused an order to continue driving, as well as having a breath test taken when officers smelled “an alcohol smell”.
Since the cabinet announced the nitrogen targets per region last week, farmers across the country have protested several times: they are angry that the Dutch livestock has to shrink. Last Wednesday a fairly pleasant national protest day was organized, partly by trade unions, on the field of a cattle farmer in Stroe in Gelderland. Demonstrations got further out of hand at various times: farmers blocked highways with their machines at various times, some farmers poured manure on highways and some visited the home of nitrogen minister Christianne van der Wal (VVD) and Member of Parliament Derk Boswijk (CDA). .
Also read: Can the government still handle the farmers’ protest?