Posted on 06/28/2006 8:02:28 AM PDT by Tancred
“Youths” Kick Man to Death on Crowded Antwerp Bus
The Belgian state is no longer able to guarantee the security of its citizens. On Saturday afternoon Guido Demoor, a 54-year old Flemish train conductor on his way to work, was kicked to death by six “youths” on a crowded bus near Antwerp’s Central Station. The incident recalls the rush-hour murder ten weeks ago of Joe Van Holsbeeck, 17 years of age, in a crowded Brussels Central Station on 12 April.
Guido Demoor, a father of two, intervened when six “youths” got on bus 23 in Antwerp and began to intimidate passengers. There were some forty people on the bus. Demoor asked the “youths” to calm down, whereupon they turned on him, savagely beating and kicking the man. At the next stop thirty passengers fled the bus. The thugs kept beating Demoor. They then pulled the emergency brake and jumped from the bus leaving their victim to die.
Three Moroccans, two of whom are minors, were arrested today. The website of the Dutch paper De Stentor reports tonight that a fourth suspect, believed to be the ringleader, fled into a shop as the police were poised to arrest him. He managed to escape from the shop when dozens of “youths” came to his rescue. Witnesses had described the culprits as immigrant youths of between 18 and 21 years of age. During the weekend the police had called for witnesses as only four people had come forward. The police offered the witnesses absolute confidentiality and promised not to reveal their identities. “Obviously people fear reprisals,” Gazet van Antwerpen wrote today.
Belgians do not have a constitutional or legal right to bear arms, not even purely defensive arms such as peppersprays. With the police and the government failing to protect law-abiding citizens the latter are, however, totally unprotected. Saturday’s murder has shocked bus drivers and train conductors, but they stress that they are not in the least surprised. Violence on public transport has become a fact of life.
“You see what happens if you intervene,” one of Guido Demoor’s colleagues at Belgian Rail is quoted in the newspaper De Morgen today. “If Guido had not opened his mouth he would still be alive. [...] He was a good man. I would not have dared to do what Guido did. I was beaten up once and since then I have become very careful.”
Another colleague told the newspaper Het Nieuwsblad: “After the Van Holsbeeck murder some whined that no-one had intervened. Guido did intervene and paid with his life.” After the assassination of Joe Van Holsbeeck Belgium’s Cardinal Danneels had said that Joe was a victim of “the indifference in Belgian society” because no-one had come to his rescue when two youths stabbed him to death for not handing over his MP3 player.
Today the Cardinal issued a statement saying: “Guido Demoor acted very bravely. The fact that he paid with his life does not mean that he acted wrongly.” In contemporary Belgium it is heroic for an unarmed adult to tell immigrant youths to calm down.
An Antwerp bus driver told De Morgen: “These youths can be very aggressive. If you say one wrong word they throw themselves on you. I do not dare to say anything. I keep my mouth shut.” Public transport passengers declared: “They call you names in a language you do not understand, shouting and abusing you. What can you do? Who can you call for help? I do not know.”
A train conductor told Het Nieuwsblad: “This incident happened on a bus, but it could also have happened on a train. To be honest, I have been working in Brussels’ Midi Station [where the international trains from Paris and London arrive] for 27 years and I am happy to be still alive. I have been eye to eye with aggressive pickpockets on many occasions. These men have no qualms about hurting people. I am not sure that I would intervene if I witness an incident. I do not want to risk my life.”
The unrest among railroad employees after the Demoor murder is huge. Some want to go on strike to pressure the government to give them protection. The Independent Union of Train Personnel (OVS), however, has asked its members not to strike. “Laying down our work would only harm the passengers and make them the victims of incidents for which they are not to blame,” OVS spokesman Hugo De Rycke said. He stressed, however, that the authorities have to do something. De Rycke explained that bus 23 on which Demoor was murdered is known to be dangerous. “Because [bus 23] is so dangerous Belgian Rail at one point provided taxis to take employees to work [in Antwerp’s Central Station]. However, the taxi service was abolished because it proved too expensive,” he said.
Problems occur not only in major Belgian cities, such as Antwerp and Brussels, but also in provincial towns, such as Sint-Niklaas. Last week bus drivers in Sint-Niklaas refused to drive out in protest against the aggressive behaviour of immigrant youths on the buses. In today’s De Morgen drivers, who have all asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, relate experiences of “buses being demolished while en route” and of “youths harassing girls, who beg the driver to protect them.” One of the drivers said: “If they refuse to buy a ticket I leave it. I do not want to be beaten up for one and a half euros.”
Another driver said: “Last week an old man was beaten up on my bus. The youths were angry because he did not put away his luggage fast enough. They hit him on the eye and threw the luggage on his lap. [...] A bus drive lasts forty minutes. Sometimes they pester and provoke you for a full forty minutes. I remain calm, but some of my colleagues are not able to do so and get into trouble. If I ever get into trouble, I will do as one colleague did recently. He left his vehicle at the bus station and got off, never to return to this job.” Guido Demoor never even got off the bus.
'I make a damn fine pot of tea. Perfect scones, too. ;-)'
Bet you don't put the milk in first! :D
'If you think that the DOJ is simply making them up for the purposes of making Britain look bad, then that's up to you.'
No, but I do think it's massaging them to make itself look better to it's citizens. That's what my govt does and I'm pretty sure yours does too, that's whay I never quote govt figures from either side!
That's it - I'm out of here. It's gone 7pm and I'm still in my office - the curse of the small business owner! Nighty-night!
OK, rethinking here, maybe 20 ft I don't shoot. Finger on the trigger pointing his way though.
One move forward then I squeeze.
Anyone stupid enough to take on a 6'2" 220lb ex-soldier wielding a ten round SMLE with a knife deserves that extra few feet.
I used to be 5'5", until osteoporosis started rearing it's head. It's none of your business about my weight. :-) But, suffice it to say, I'm not a small woman. I'll shoot first and should they find themselves prone on the ground, I might poke 'em for good measure.
"Remember, you live in NY."
Exactly!
the folks here deal with rowdy kids better.
Probably so but it doesn't take much to reverse that. All that's needed is for you to fail to deal with it once and it grows to the point that it's not correctable without drastic action like police riding on the buses and making arrests.
To all of you macho guys throwing the word 'candyass' around, 1 guy against 6 youths is really lopsided. Sorry to tell you this, but you're going to get your a$$ kicked.
It's possible that the passengers who ran off the bus were elderly or women. And if not, I still don't see how you can condemn them. The one guy who intervened, Guido, got beaten to death. That could be you.
It was 40 passengers against 6 un-armed thugs. That's over 6 passengers for each punk. There's nothing in the article that even hints at the possibility that the passengers were elderly. I read about women fighting off and injuring atttackers every day.
You need not fear, If you are being assaulted in sight of me, I will help you. How would you feel about a crowd of people fleeing as some punks beat you to death? Well, odds are you'll never have to worry about that because of people like me and the others you chastize on this thread. Our willingness to act makes you safer.
You are welcome.
I'm not chastising anyone. I'm saying that those passengers shouldn't be criticized for not acting. Remember, the one passenger who intervened got beaten to death. 6 against 1. You really think you could take on 6 youths?
Joan -- Here in Atlanta, the MARTA buses DO have MARTA officers on many of them, as do the trains. Despite local whining, MARTA is quite safe. The officers do make arrests. We don't call that drastic, we call that law enforcement. ;-)
FWIW, the school kids ride school buses.
Absolutely not! But the 30 passengers who fled the bus could have.......FWIW, had 6 of the cowards taken a stand then it is quite likely they would have had company.......
Not that you read about. The most popular crime now a days is drive by shootings in the BIG cities that are dominated by socialists such as here in Detroit. However, we here in Michigan now have "Shall issue" laws which entitle me and every other law abiding citizen the right to carry a concealed firearm.
heres a link for you to check out if you are so confident that Americans don't mean business.
It doesn't make you a candyass to retreat before superior force. Six against one- yeah, you're gonna die if the attackers want to kill you.
But it wasn't six on one. It was six on thirty-one. And thirty ran.
That's not only despicable, it's disgusting.
But I guess it's too "macho" for a group that size to defend itself.
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