Dutch authorities ban demonstration against proposed refugee center following riots, violence, and threats

Following riots and growing tensions in the Dutch municipality of Bernheze over a planned refugee centre, Mayor Marieke Moorman said that she did not want to think about a threatening letter that the town council received allegedly containing a bullet. The message is thought to be related to a planned asylum seekers centre as protesters continue to decry the site's construction. Moorman has also gone on to forbid a demonstration against the centre set for Thursday in the municipality's town of Heesch. Her decision comes after a protest of more than 1,000 protesters against the construction of the centre turned violent on Monday 18 with demonstrators throwing stones, fireworks, and eggs at both police and the municipality council building. The structure also suffered an attack on Wednesday 20 after unidentified suspects broke a window with a stone. Many of Heesch's inhabitants have decried the plans for 500 refugees to be located in the small town over a 10 year period, saying that the number was too high. Alongside threats against the mayor and Monday's riot, a dead pig was reportedly discovered hanging in a tree in front of the site of the proposed refugee centre, with residents also purportedly dumping sand on the mayor's driveway earlier in the week.