Mourners in Brussels Interrupted by Hundreds of 'Skinheads' Shouting Nationalist Slogans, Making Nazi Salutes: Reports

staff@people.com (Adam Carlson)
Updated
Mourners in Brussels Interrupted by Hundreds of 'Skinheads' Shouting Nationalist Slogans, Making Nazi Salutes: Reports

What had been a peaceful gathering of mourners Sunday in Brussels – in the wake of bombings there last week that killed 31 – was derailed by hundreds of people, CNN, Reuters and ThinkProgress report.

"It is highly inappropriate that protesters have disrupted the peaceful reflection at the Bourse [stock exchange],"said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, according to Reuters. "I strongly condemn these disturbances."

While mourners at first laid flowers and wreaths at the feet of the stairs of the exchange, "the mood changed at about 2:45 p.m." local time, according to CNN – "when several hundred men" appeared, many dressed in black, some allegedly carrying alcohol and obscuring their faces.

(The march had at first been postponed out of security fears, according to CNN, but many people apparently gathered anyway.)

The interrupting group – described by some as "hooligans" and by local media as including many far-right nationalists, according to Reuters – lit flares and firecrackers, carried banners and the Belgian national flag, shouting both nationalist and anti-immigrant chants, according to ThinkProgress.

According to the BBC, the group also "confronted Muslim women in the crowds" and made Nazi salutes.

The group also loudly denounced ISIS, which has claimed responsibility for the bombings.



Onlooker Adam Liston told the BBC the atmosphere was "really positive" and "then a bunch of skinheads just turned up, marched into the square, and started a major confrontation with the peace protesters," he said.

"They got in the face of the protesters and police. They set off flares and chanted and it was getting quite ugly," he said.

While mourners countered the group with chants such as "No to hatred," according to CNN, riot police corralled them down a nearby street.

"The crowd on the stock exchange's steps cheered as the police briefly unleashed the water cannons on the demonstrators," according to CNN.

Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur also condemned the group who interrupted the peaceful gathering, according to Reuters.

"I am appalled at what has happened, to see that such scoundrels come here to provoke people at their place of homage," he said.