The incident took place in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on Tuesday. Tom Van Grieken3 was slapped by a police officer while trying to attend a demonstration for the healthcare industry.
Brussels police wanted to prevent a small group of Vlaams Belang party members from stopping by the roadside. At that time, one of the police officers was seen slapping Van Grieken. After the video was shared on the Party’s Twitter account, the incident caused a great stir across the country in a short time.
IT HAPPENED AFTER A HOT DISCUSSION
Van Grieken appears to have had a heated argument with police officers before being slapped. Vlaams Belang and the Brussels police shared versions of the incident from different angles. Therefore, the exact cause of the incident has not been determined yet.
“The presence of Vlaams Belang members was causing unrest among the demonstrators,” said Ilse Van de Keere, spokesperson for the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police district.
Stating that they decided to separate the group to maintain calm and prevent further clashes, the spokesperson said, “This was accompanied by some interventions, followed by push and pull. The exact conditions for this are still being studied inside.”