Two men allegedly involved in projecting racist texts on the Erasmus Bridge and other prominent buildings had to appear in court in Breda on Monday. They have already pasted stickers with texts such as ‘Stop White Replacement’ and ‘National Socialism, we are back’. The men themselves see it as a ‘contribution to the social debate’.
John A. (24, from Zwijndrecht) is ‘afraid that his race will die out’. White people will become a minority. That is a fact,” he said in the court of Breda on Monday. And that is why John, together with two others, went to Breda on a Sunday in October 2021 to put stickers on lampposts. The stickers they carried were texts like ‘Stop White Replacement‘ (Stop White Replacement) and ‘National Socialism, we are back’, a reference to the ideas of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party.
After an afternoon of pasting stickers, things got out of hand. A dark-skinned couple, seeing the stickers, pulled them off a lamppost and confronted the men. Then the sticker stickers called them ‘cancer negro’ and dealt a blow.
Insult and assault
The three men faced court on Monday for insult and assault. It is a relatively small matter that would normally have passed unnoticed. But that changed on January 1 of this year. Then appeared at the turn of the year racist texts on the Rotterdam Erasmus Bridge, projected via laser beams and a beamer. ‘A cheerful white 2023’, it said, among other things. The White Lives Matter group claimed responsibility. In the following weeks, racist and discriminatory texts were projected on even more buildings: the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, the city hall in Alkmaar and (during carnival) the city hall in Eindhoven.
In February, the police arrested two men who were allegedly involved in several of those projections. They are two of the three men who will stand trial in Breda on Monday: John A. and Daniel S. (34, from Landgraaf). Not only do they seem to form the core of the Dutch branch of the international White Lives Matter movement, but the court case in Breda also shows that they have been involved for years.
Quote
Do you know what National Socialism stands for? Do you know about the persecution of the Jews? Or do you not believe in that?
Pornographic images
John A. does not want to say much about himself in court. A. also does not want to answer the court’s question whether he finds the word ‘cancer negro’ offensive. “Do you know what National Socialism stands for? Do you know about the persecution of the Jews? Or do you not believe in that?” asks the court. A. does not want to answer. He says he “just wants to spread information” and “practice peaceful activism.” He seems nervous and quickly gets lost in his answers.
Suspect Daniel S. is not present in court. He could not get time off from work, says his lawyer. Documents show that he is also not very talkative. He has barely made a statement in the investigation into the projections on the Erasmus Bridge and refuses to participate in a psychological investigation because he believes that this is a ‘political investigation’. The Limburger would suffer from a form of autism. He was convicted of violent crimes in 2014 and 2019. When this site approached him earlier this year via chat service Telegram and asked about the texts on the Erasmus Bridge, he did not want to respond. In response, he sent a cannonade of abuse and dozens of pornographic images of black men.
Tasteless
The projections in Rotterdam and other cities were not yet discussed in court on Monday. But the question at hand was partly the same: which texts are offensive? The men had a bag full of stickers with them in Breda. But the texts on it are not all punishable, according to the Public Prosecution Service. White Lives Matter is allowed, for example. John A. even gets a seized banner with that text back. “Tasteless, but not offensive,” said the OM.
The stickers with ‘Stop White Replacement’ and those about National Socialism are insulting and discriminatory, according to the judiciary. “They refer directly to the racial doctrine, which states that certain races are superior to others.” The lyrics also speak of ‘utter contempt for other people’. “These actions have nothing to do with freedom of expression. It contributes to polarization.”
Public debate
John A. and Daniel S.’s lawyers do not see any offensive texts. “These statements have been made in the public debate and are not unnecessarily offensive. It only states that white people’s lives should not be replaced. People are allowed to adhere to and express that idea,” says lawyer Bal of John A. Daniel S., according to his lawyer, ‘wants to convey a message’: ,,Active without violence.”
It’s a different picture than the one that crops up to this day in the various White Lives Matter Telegram groups. It talks about ‘a new hierarchy that is forming in the white class’. “Your job is to be awake during this apocalypse. Being pro-white gives you the chance to become a hero.” This is followed by a reference to the so-called ’14 words’. Those words (“We must ensure the existence of our people and the future of white children”) were used in the last century by an American white separatist terrorist group.
The Public Prosecution Service is demanding community service of 50, 70 and 120 hours against the three men on Monday for insult and assault. Daniel S. would also have to spend one more day in jail. The verdict is on March 31.
It is still unknown when the case about the projections on the Erasmus Bridge and other buildings will play out.
View images of racist slogans on the Erasmus Bridge:
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