Dutch police disburse crowd, arrest 30 in bid to prevent repeat of anti-lockdown riots

Around 30 people were arrested in Amsterdam when police disbursed a protest against coronavirus lockdown measures on Sunday, as authorities sought to prevent a repeat of riots that raged across Dutch cities for three days last week. Police said they had sent home around 600 people who had flouted social distancing rules and ignored a nationwide ban on public gatherings by assembling in Amsterdam's central Museumplein on Sunday afternoon.

Around 30 people were arrested in Amsterdam when police disbursed a protest against coronavirus lockdown measures on Sunday, as authorities sought to prevent a repeat of riots that raged across Dutch cities for three days last week.

Police said they had sent home around 600 people who had flouted social distancing rules and ignored a nationwide ban on public gatherings by assembling in Amsterdam's central Museumplein on Sunday afternoon. There were no reports of violent incidents by late afternoon on Sunday.

The addition of a nighttime curfew to an already broad lockdown triggered last week's violent demonstrations. Shops were looted in several cities and 500 people were arrested.