Fans of Dutch football club ADO Den Haag have called on their members to gather in the centre of The Hague due to expected unrest surrounding planned Gen Z protests. The gathering is scheduled for 12:00 at the Plein Square.
In a message shared on social media, the supporters said they would not be organising their own demonstration but wanted to prevent looting and destruction. “We will not allow the looting of our city, the destruction of our cultural heritage or any other form of vandalism“, the text says.
According to the publication, a protest under the slogan “Generation Z Protests“ is to be held on the “Malieveld“ meadow and was inspired by riots in France. The text also claims that calls for riots, looting and violence have been made on social networks and private online groups in various cities in the Netherlands.
Municipality has not received notification of demonstration
The municipality of The Hague said it had not received official notification of a demonstration on October 31. However, the police will be visibly positioned in the city center and will intervene if public order is disturbed. The online messages are known to the municipality and the police and are being monitored, a local government spokesman said.
Mayor Jan van Zanen said: “Public order violations, threats and crimes will not be tolerated. We expect everyone to behave responsibly.“
Dutch media reported that several shops in the city center had already secured their windows with wooden panels. The cosmetics and perfumery chain ICI Paris XL decided to keep two stores in The Hague and two in Amsterdam closed due to fears of robberies. Among the stores that took preventive measures were stores of other retail chains.
Differences over the group's identity
NLnow identified the organizers as extreme ADO supporters, linked to the FC Den Haag Midden-Noord group. However, sports website FCUpdate points out that the call was posted by an anonymous Instagram account and that the origin and exact composition of the group have not been independently verified. Both sources report that the authors deny preparing a counter-demonstration and present the gathering as an attempt to "protect" the city.
The increased attention is due to online posts that Dutch media reported contained calls for looting, throwing objects at police and the use of pyrotechnics.
Potential gathering locations include the "Mallieveld" in The Hague and the "Dam Square" in Amsterdam. For now, the municipality of The Hague has not officially confirmed a scheduled demonstration, but has stated that it will react to any violation of public order.
Sources: nlnow.nl, fcupdate.nl, rd.nl