Footage of what one politician called “immigrant” youths apparently attacking a police car in Brussels has prompted a political outcry, with some opposition politicians in Belgium demanding a “crackdown”.
The incident took place in the city’s Saint-Gilles municipality and resulted in one officer being injured and one police vehicle damaged.
According to a report by HLN, two policemen were on patrol when they were attacked by a number youths.
Sint Gillis/Brussel (omgeving Bethlehemlein) vandaag: allochtone jongeren tolereren geen #politie meer in hun getto’s en vallen agenten en politiewagens aan… En dan maar klagen dat deze ‘jongeren’ te dikwijls gecontroleerd worden! pic.twitter.com/g2nl4KjDnG
— Filip Dewinter (@FDW_VB) July 16, 2023
The officers are then said to have run to their car to escape their assailants but the gang pursued the pair, kicking the vehicle and hurling objects at it in an apparent attempt to break its windows before the two managed to drive off.
Speaking of the alleged attack, a senior local police official blamed the incident on attempts by authorities to clamp down on drug-dealing in the area.
“In recent weeks, there has been a lot of violence against the police in Saint-Gillis, including an attempted arson attack at the commissariat on July 7,” said Jurgen De Landsheer, the police chief for the Brussels-South region.
“We notice this is because we have been strongly committed to tackling street [drug-] dealing in the last two to three weeks,” he added. “The violence is connected with that.”
The incident has provoked outrage from some on the political Right in Belgium, with a representative of the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang party calling for there to be a clampdown on such violence.
“As far as I’m concerned, police officers can strike back with a heavy hand,” Ortwin Depoortere MP said in a statement to Brussels Signal, in which he blamed the alleged attack on “young immigrants”.
“These incidents prove for the umpteenth time that a ‘pamper approach’ does not work,” he added. “Criminals need to feel that they [the police] are serious.”
Depoortere is now calling on the Belgian Government to step in to support the law enforcement agencies in Brussels with additional manpower, adding that the number of random checks in the city should be increased.
