Mass riots in Brussels January 13 evening revealed terrifying scenes in the Belgian capital. Police confirmed that 20 police officers were injured and two female officers were taken to hospital, one of them in serious condition. Police also arrested 112 rioters, of which 30 are supposedly minors.

Earlier in the evening, it was already clear that the protest for Ibrahima Barrie, a 23-year-old non-European, who died after collapsing at a police station, was about to escalate. Barrie was earlier arrested with ecstasy pills in his possession. An initial autopsy indicates that he died due to a heart attack. But, protesters with Black Lives Matter banners gathered in the thousands following his death. 

For hours, rioters aimed their anti-White fury at police officers, police vehicles, and police stations. Car windows got shattered, and several police vehicles were set on fire. 

The piercing speech delivered by Barrie’s family lawyer Alexis Deswaef added to the rising passions. In the press and during the demonstration, he made serious accusations against the police.

One asks, had this been an anti-lockdown demonstration in which the protestors were almost exclusively White, would a firebrand be allowed to inflame the crowds and would the media have given him or her full and uncritical publicity?

Various images of the protest show that the streets of Brussels looked like a Syrian war zone, with hundreds of protesters occupying the area for hours. In one video, protesters can be seen setting a police station on fire. 

Before the demonstration, people were also encouraged to participate via the Instagram account ‘Bruxelles Story’. The account is also critical of the police services. A man in one of the videos called the police ‘killers.’ The video has gained more than 52,000 views. Why was this video not blocked as hate speech by social media?

Days before the demonstration, the question also arose whether it was advisable to allow such a protest in a time of rising numbers of new COVID-19 cases.

Images shared on social media showed how in one of the side streets, a group of a dozen police officers in law enforcement clothing and with shields and batons was attacked by rioters.

Part of the platoon strategically withdrew, but one of the female cops ended up on the ground. Dozens of rioters hit the woman cop lying on the ground mercilessly and dealt her several hard kicks in the back. Officers described that one of their colleagues was almost lynched by the rioters.

‘The injured colleagues do not face life-threatening injuries but they are serious. The colleague mentioned in the report was indeed injured during service. She is now in the hospital,’ said the spokeswoman for the Brussels North police zone.

The Wednesday demonstration took place with the consent of Mayor Emir Kir. He had permitted an on-site demonstration, but not with so many participants.

The crowd had already caused several incidents during the event. They threw projectiles at the police and police station and damaged two police vehicles. At around 5:30 pm, a group of about 100 protesters lingered in the area, causing various incidents and damage.

‘At around 8 pm, peace was restored in the entire area,’ added the police spokesman.

However, on Twitter, a man posted a video of a crowd setting a police station on fire. ‘No peace, without war,’ he added.

The Brussels-North police office summarised some of the incidents, which included six damaged police vehicles, bins set on fire, various damaged shops, and damage to one of the police stations. ~ author: REMIX NEWS Source