Other MoA event in Antwerp, Ringlaan area, Belgium on Wed 1st January 2025

Police in Willebroek (Antwerp Province) used pepper spray after a group of youths fired fireworks towards them. The police had gone to an area of the town where two (almost) empty blocks of flats are located after they had received reports that fireworks were being set off illegally there. In the entrance hall to one off the blocks the fire service found a fire extinguisher that had been emptied. Several Molotov cocktails were also confiscated by police.

Dirk van de Sande of the Rivierenland Local Police Service told VRT News that "The fire service arrived at the scene first because the fire alarm had gone off in an apartment building on Ringlaan. A fire extinguisher had been emptied in the entrance hall, causing the fire alarm to go off."
Molotov cocktails

The police were monitoring the activities a group of young people, many of whom children that had assembled at the site to watch an illegal fireworks display.

The acting mayor of Willebroeck Luc Spiessens (Flemish nationalist) also went to the scene. He told VRT News that “Once a firework had been set of in the direction of the police officers, they had no choice other than to use pepper spray to disperse the group. Afterwards calm returned.

A box containing 12 Molotov cocktails that were ready for use, was also seized at the site. The Residences on Ringlaan were built as social housing in the early 1970s. They are to be demolished and make way for a completely new neighbourhood. 1 of the 3 blocks has already been demolished, around 10 people still live in the 2 other blocks.