The Black Lives Matter demonstration in Eindhoven took place on Saturday from 17:00 to 18:30 in a good atmosphere. Mayor John Jorritsma is positive about the course of the demonstration in Eindhoven.
According to the Eindhoven municipality, an estimated 1700 participants were present at the Stadhuisplein in Eindhoven. It was more than the permitted number of 700 people. For the extra crowd, there were buffer zones on the side of the square. The safety of demonstrators was kept in mind.
“I pointed out in advance the responsibility of the organisation and the participants. They have shown that demonstrating is possible, even in corona time, with the necessary adjustments, respect for each other and each other’s health. I am proud of that,” Mayor John Jorritsma said.
Throughout the day, there was good consultation between the organisation, police, and municipality. The instructions were passed on to the demonstrators. It was important to keep more distance in the ring around the square.
Also, the municipality informed that both before and during the demonstration, the organisation and the demonstrators followed the instructions of the police and the municipality well. There were no arrests during the demonstration.
With the demonstration, spokesperson Nihâl Esma Altmis wants to draw attention to the existence of institutional racism. “We must not deny this. We expect the protest to proceed calmly, so the discussion will go on afterwards about this topic. And not about a situation that may have gotten out of hand.”
The cause for the demonstrations is the death of George Floyd, the black American who was killed by police violence in Minneapolis. Other demonstrations in the Netherlands were in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Tilburg.
Source: www.studio040.nl and municipal press release.
Translation: Chaitali Sengupta, who gives ONLINE Inburgering classes.
