Dutch leader condemns violence by ‘idiots’ after rioting

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte has condemned rioters in Rotterdam and other towns and cities across the Netherlands over the weekend as “idiots.” He said Monday that police and prosecutors would do all they can to bring them to justice. Rutte’s comments came after coronavirus protests in the Netherlands and Brussels descended into violence amid simmering anger at lockdown measures being put in place in an attempt to rein in soaring rates of infection. But he says violence in Rotterdam and other smaller incidents in the Netherlands had “nothing to do with demonstrating. This is a pure explosion of violence directed against our police, against our firefighters, against ambulance drivers.”