Extremists interrupt Sunday memorial for terrorist victims

Some 450 football hooligans interrupted a memorial on Sunday at Place de la Bourse in central Brussels for the victims of the 22 March terrorist attacks. Members of the group, all dressed in black, stomped on flowers, messages and other items placed by the hundreds on Place de la Bourse and, according to witnesses, confronted Muslims in the crowd.

The incident has led to criticism among politicians. Brussels mayor Yvan Mayeur claimed that “Flanders is polluting Brussels with its extremism”.

The group, calling itself “Casuals Against Terrorism”, met in two locations in Vilvoorde, with the knowledge of local police who had picked up messages on social media. Vilvoorde mayor Hans Bonte considered placing a temporary ban on their movements, “but that would have led to serious frustrations,” he said. He allowed the train to leave for Brussels, with Vilvoorde police on board.

Once in Brussels, they headed for the Bourse, where a March Against Fear had been planned. “We may be a subculture, but we’re also Belgians,” one of the group told Radio 1. “We also have the right to express ourselves.”

Mayeur and federal home affairs minister Jan Jambon had already asked people not to attend the march for safety reasons, but many were present at Bourse in any case to pay their respects.

As members of the group chanted nationalist phrases and used Nazi salutes, violence erupted, with police using water cannons and tear gas to drive the hooligans back to North Station. About 10 of them were arrested.

Mayeur said it was “scandalous” that neither Jambon nor Bonte took measures to stop the group from coming to Brussels. “It is Flanders that came to pollute Brussels with its extremists, the public of the N-VA and Bart De Wever,” he said.

It was later revealed that Mayeur also knew about the group’s planned arrival, with sources saying that it was one of the reasons he joined Jambon in advising people to stay away from the Bourse. The Brussels police force was also in contact with colleagues in Vilvoorde and with railway security, and they took the decision together to take a joint approach.

In related news, Jambon said at the weekend that an order went out to shut down Brussels metro stations following the explosions at Brussels Airport on Tuesday. The decision was made, he said, at 8.50, but the order did not go out until 9.05, six minutes before the suicide bombing in Maelbeek station.

Brussels transport authority STIB said that they never received an order to shut down the network. Jambon said the matter would be brought before the new parliamentary investigative committee.

The metro lines travelling through Maalbeek station are back up, though trains are not yet stopping at the station.

Photo: Yves Herman/REUTERS