‘Orgy of violence’: Dutch police open fire on rioters

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Police opened fire on protesters in rioting that erupted in downtown Rotterdam around a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions. The Dutch city’s mayor called Friday night’s rioting “an orgy of violence.” Police say that two rioters were hospitalized after being hit by bullets and investigations were underway to establish if they were shot by police. The condition of the injured rioters was not disclosed. Police say officers arrested 51 people, about half of them minors. One police officer was hospitalized with a leg injury sustained in the rioting, another was treated by ambulance staff and “countless” others suffered minor injuries.