My thoughts exactly! It sounded like this guy was a member of the Jedi Council.
Posted on 05/06/2002 2:43:54 PM PDT by ValenB4
The Dutch right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn has been shot dead.
"Pim Fortuyn is no longer with us. This is a deeply tragic moment," Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok announced.
Fortuyn, 54, was shot six times and suffered multiple wounds in the head, chest and neck. He died of his injuries shortly afterwards.
He was attacked as he left a radio studio in the central Dutch city of Hilversum after giving an interview.
The maverick politician, who had been campaigning on an anti-immigration ticket, was expected to do well in general elections in nine days' time, picking up at least 15% of the vote.
Tragic
Mr Kok broke off campaigning to return to the official capital, The Hague.
"This is deeply tragic first of all for him and for all his loved ones. It is also deeply tragic for our democracy," he said.
Ad Melkert, leader of the governing socialists, said the shooting was "appalling".
"It's hard to grasp this can happen in The Netherlands. Dutch democracy has lost its innocence," he told NOS television.
Far-right reaction
Far-right parties across Europe have condemned the assassination.
Bruno Megret, head of France's right-wing National Republican Movement (MNR), said he was "deeply shocked" by the killing, blaming it in part on political unrest in France.
"If it was politically motivated, this criminal act shows to what extent certain hysterical positions like those shown by the French left over the past 15 days can incite hatred," he told French news agency AFP.
A spokesman for Austria's far-right Freedom Party also called the killing "madness", and warned that "violence is unacceptable no matter how seriously you disagree with another's political viewpoint".
Gunman 'chased'
Eyewitnesses say a single gunman shot Fortuyn as he got into a chauffeur-driven limousine in the media park where the radio station is located.
Ambulances rushed to the scene and the area was sealed off.
"I saw Pim Fortuyn lying on the ground with a bullet wound in his head," said television reporter Dave Abspoel.
The reporter said four people chased the gunman, who apparently fired in their direction.
One unconfirmed report said that a suspect had been detained.
But the BBC's Geraldine Coughlan in The Hague says it would have been difficult to gain access to the media park, where several TV and radio studios are located, without going through tight identity and security checks.
She said that the Dutch media and politicians have reacted with shock to an attack which is unprecedented in Dutch politics.
Supporters have been laying flowers outside Fortuyn's house in Rotterdam.
Elections
In an interview last week, Fortuyn expressed fears that he could be the victim of an attack and said that he had received threats by phone, e-mail and letter.
A few weeks ago, protesters threw two cream pies laced with urine in his face.
Although most Dutch politicians travel without any personal security, and often use public transport, Fortuyn did use private bodyguards, though he could not afford constant security.
Fortuyn's anti-immigration party has been predicted to do well in the forthcoming general elections with polls giving him at least 15% of the vote.
The party made surprising gains in recent municipal elections, winning a landslide in the port city of Rotterdam.
Fortuyn has provoked public indignation by calling for the Netherlands' borders to be closed to immigrants and by describing Islam as a 'backward' religion.
The BBC's world affairs correspondent, John Simpson, who interviewed him last week, said: "He was aware of the kind of feelings he was stirring up and, to some extent, he enjoyed that because he knew his message was getting through."
Fortuyn said that, if he was successful in the 15 May elections, he would only be satisfied with the post of prime minister and would not accept a place in the cabinet.
"You can't win. If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."
:-)
Fortuyn was a gay sociology professor, and his anti-immigration views were in large part driven by his belief that growing Islamic fanatacism would result in persecution and violence directed at Dutch gays. Looks like he was right.
Probably will because I think the guy was gay.
He gave Islam more credit than it is due.
HILVERSUM, Netherlands (AP) - In the first assassination in modern Dutch history, a lone gunman shot far-right leader Pim Fortuyn on Monday, nine days before elections expected to catapult his anti-immigration party into a position of national power.
Fortuyn, 54, a former academic and columnist who led an openly gay lifestyle, was shot six times in the head, neck and chest as he left a radio interview.
My first reaction on hearing this news was that Pim was killed by Leftist hate speech that set off an unbalanced mind.
Now I am really beginning to wonder if there was not much more involved.
If security is as tight as the BBC reporter said, and the gunman got away. The implications of inside security cooperation with the killing jump right out at you.
How messed up can a nation get? Very sad.
The tactics of the left are indeed subhuman.
My thoughts exactly! It sounded like this guy was a member of the Jedi Council.
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