Police in Brussels Clash With April Fools Partiers

Workers in Brussels were cleaning up the city’s Bois de la Cambre park early Friday after an April Fools’ Day prank brought thousands of young people there Thursday amid a COVID-19 lockdown, leading to clashes with police.

A social media posting last month advertising "La Boum" (The Party) for Thursday, April 1, promising a concert was apparently intended as an April Fools’ Day joke. But police said they became concerned when nearly 20,000 people indicated plans to attend. Brussels police Wednesday issued warnings that the advertised “party” was a hoax and in violation of COVID-19 regulations. But officials say about 2,000 people showed up anyway, many of them frustrated by restrictions and drawn out by warm weather. Clashes began later Thursday when police attempted to disperse the crowd, which threw bottles and other projectiles. The police, some on horseback and others in riot gear, responded with water cannons and tear gas.