The Extinction Rebellion group organized a significant climate protest in The Hague that resulted in over 1,500 people being detained, according to the Dutch authorities.
The protestors blocked a section of a highway in the afternoon to express their disapproval of the government’s backing of Dutch fossil fuel subsidies.
In response, law enforcement officials used water cannons to scatter the protesters, and as a result, 1,579 people were taken into custody. 40 of those detained, including vandals, will be held accountable for their crimes in court.
The Extinction Rebellion calculated that some 7,000 people showed up to participate in the protest, demonstrating the wide-spread awareness of the pressing need to solve climate change. Some demonstrators were prepared for the use of water cannons and came dressed in swimwear or with umbrellas while demonstrating on the A12 motorway.
In order to voice their demands and spread awareness of the climate catastrophe, banners and flags were widely exhibited.
This protest was the seventh one that the Extinction Rebellion had planned in the same area of the highway close to the parliament and other ministry buildings in The Hague. However, according to the Dutch news agency ANP, this specific event had the most arrests made during a single demonstration.
Before resorting to the use of water cannons and making arrests, police said that they had repeatedly given the protestors the chance to terminate their protest freely.
Extinction Rebellion leader Aaron Pereira emphasized the exponential increase in the number of demonstrators at each event as evidence of the widespread public support for effective climate action. Pereira lambasted the government for subsidizing the fossil fuel business, which goes against what the public wants.
