POLICE opened fire on anti-lockdown protesters in the Dutch city of Rotterdam Friday ahead of demonstrations in several European cities against new Covid restrictions.
Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told reporters about police officers “felt it necessary to draw their weapons to defend themselves” more than once after protesters tore through the city’s central shopping district, setting fires in their wake.
Describing the scenes as “an orgy of violence,” he added that “people were injured,” after officers “shot at protesters,” although he could not provide information on the extent of their injuries.
At least seven people had been injured in the clashes, police said in a statement on Twitter, which added that officers had also been injured in the clashes. Several arrests had been made, police said.
The protests erupted after the Netherlands became the first western European nation to impose a partial lockdown since the summer as Covid cases soared across the country,
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