Dutch leader condemns violence by 'idiots' after rioting

Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte has condemned rioters in Rotterdam and other towns and cities across the Netherlands over the weekend as “idiots.”

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday condemned rioters in Rotterdam and other towns and cities across the Netherlands over the weekend as “idiots” and said police and prosecutors would bring them to justice.

Rutte's comments came after coronavirus protests in the Netherlands and Brussels descended into violence amid simmering anger at lockdown measures being put in place in an attempt to rein in soaring rates of infection.

“I realize that there are a lot of tensions in society because we have been dealing with all the misery of coronavirus for so long,” Rutte said.

But he said violence in Rotterdam and other smaller incidents in the Netherlands had “nothing to do with demonstrating. This is a pure explosion of violence directed against our police, against our firefighters, against ambulance drivers.”