Rioting erupted in downtown Rotterdam around a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions.<\/b>
\nTHE HAGUE, Netherlands \u2014 Police opened fire on protesters in rioting that erupted in downtown Rotterdam around a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions late Friday night. The Dutch city\u2019s mayor called it \u201can orgy of violence.\u201d Police said 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. Officers arrested 51 people, about half of them minors, police said Saturday afternoon. One police officer was hospitalized with a leg injury sustained in the rioting, another was treated by ambulance staff and \u201ccountless\u201d others suffered minor injuries. Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told reporters in the early hours of Saturday morning that \u201con a number of occasions the police felt it necessary to draw their weapons to defend themselves\u201d as rioters ran rampage through the port city\u2019s central shopping district, setting fires and throwing rocks and fireworks at officers. \u201cThey shot at protesters, people were injured,\u201d Aboutaleb said. He did not have details on the injuries. Police also fired warning shots. Police combing through video footage from security cameras expect to make more arrests. Photos from the scene showed at least one police car in flames and another with a bicycle slammed through its windshield. Riot police and a water cannon restored calm after midnight. It was one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the Netherlands since coronavirus restrictions were first imposed last year. In January, rioters also attacked police and set fires on the streets of Rotterdam after a curfew came into force. Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus condemned the events. \u201cThe riots and extreme violence against police officers, riot police and firefighters last night in Rotterdam are disgusting to see,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cProtesting is a great right in our society, but what we saw last night is simply criminal behavior. It has nothing to do with demonstrating,\u201d he added. Police units from around the country raced to Rotterdam to help bring Friday night\u2019s situation under control. Local media reported that gangs of soccer hooligans were involved in the rioting. Video from social media shown on Dutch broadcaster NOS appeared to show one person being shot in Rotterdam, but there was no immediate word on what happened. Police said in a tweet that it was \u201cstill unclear how and by whom\u201d that person was apparently shot. An independent investigation into the shootings by police was opened, as is the case whenever Dutch police use their weapons. The government has said it wants to introduce a law that would allow businesses to restrict the country\u2019s coronavirus pass system to only people who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 \u2014 that would exclude people who test negative. The country has seen record numbers of infections in recent days and a new partial lockdown came into force a week ago. Local political party Leefbaar Rotterdam condemned the violence in a tweet. \u201cThe center of our beautiful city has this evening transformed into a war zone,\u201d it said. \u201cRotterdam is a city where you can disagree with things that happen but violence is never, the solution.\u201d Comments are not available on this story. Send questions\/comments to the editors. \u00ab Previous<\/p>\n