At Shrine for the Dead in Brussels, 'Hooligans' Give Nazi Salute

Chanted 'Death to Arabs'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 28, 2016 12:53 AM CDT
Far-Right Protesters Clash With Cops at Brussels Memorial
Right-wing demonstrators protest at a memorial site at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels on Sunday.   (Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Belgian riot police clashed Sunday with hundreds of right-wing hooligans at a temporary shrine honoring victims of the Brussels suicide bombings, as investigators launched fresh anti-terror raids, taking four more people into custody, the AP reports. Police used water cannons when scuffles broke out in front of the Bourse, which has become a symbolic rallying point for people to pay their respects to those who died in Tuesday's attacks. Black-clad men carrying an anti-ISIS banner trampled parts of the shrine, shouting Nazi slogans. Ten were arrested and two police officers were injured. Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur expressed his disgust, with Belgium still in mourning over the attacks that killed at least 31 people.

"We had 340 hooligans from different football clubs who came to Brussels and we knew for sure that they would create some trouble," Police Commissioner Christian De Coninck said. "It was a very difficult police operation because lots of families with kids were here." People trying to pay their respects were also dismayed. "It was important for us to be here symbolically," said a 35-year-old comedian. But, she added, "there were lots of men who were here and doing the Nazi salute, shouting 'death to Arabs,' and so we weren't able to get through." Federal prosecutors, meanwhile, said Sunday morning's raids were linked to a "federal case regarding terrorism," but they didn't specify whether it had any links to the March 22 attack (More Brussels attack stories.)

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