Thousands protest at Pim Fortuyn's murder

BBC ^ | May 7, 2002

[Shermy]

Demonstrators march in a silent protest through the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Tuesday, May 7, 2002
in honor of anti-immigration candidate Pim Fortuyn, who was assassinated Monday in Hilversum.
The sign reads "Pim, you were murdered, but not your ideas". (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The Mayor of Rotterdam Ivo Opstelten, right, joins tens
of thousands of people during a silent march through the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands for
assassinated anti-immigration candidate Pim Fortuyn on Tuesday, May 7, 2002.
Others are unidentfied. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Other pics

[Shermy]

Reports say he was an animal-rights activist angered by Fortuyn's calls to lift a ban on fur farming.

Well. Pim didn't seem to have any vocal views on the environment. He got shot about mik farming??? What are these "reports." Where are the "reports" from. Spin control already going on???

I wonder about the background of this guy...is he a hit man? A sucker for a "cause?" Put over the edge due to negative campaigning against Pim?

Keep up the good work KN. If this guy "moved" to the town a year ago, where did he come from before?

[Dog Gone]

He provoked public indignation by calling for the Netherlands' borders to be closed to immigrants and by describing Islam as a "backward" religion.

Pakistan President Musharraf said the same thing about Islam on national television a couple of months ago. Why must Europe insist on being more politically correct than him?

[anniegetyourgun]

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Pim Fortuyn, a Dutch politician whose positions against immigration, high taxes and low government performance shifted the political agenda of the Netherlands, was shot dead Monday after giving a radio interview. He was 54.

Fortuyn's assassination came just nine days before a scheduled election in which polls forecast that his newly created party would upset the established political order and possibly win a place in the next coalition.

Proudly gay, admittedly temperamental and flamboyant, Fortuyn attracted a wide following by standing out against the gray background of mainstream politicians who frown on confrontation and favor quiet consensus. Impeccably dressed, he was seen constantly on television and magazine covers.

Recent polls suggested his party, "Pim Fortuyn's List," would win 25 to 28 seats in the 150-member parliament in the May 15 election, enough to possibly bargain his way into the cabinet. But Fortuyn said he would shun a cabinet seat for himself unless he were made prime minister, saying it would be too hard for him to submit to another's leadership.

Fortuyn, a former academic, journalist and commentator, lifted the unspoken taboo against criticizing the long-standing policy of offering shelter to refugees, blaming immigrants for what many Dutchmen perceive as a rising crime rate. He singled out Muslims for refusing to adopt Dutch ways and fully integrate.

His policies put him in the same political category as France's Jean-Marie Le Pen and Austria's Joerg Haider - but he rejected those comparisons.

"My policies are multiethnic and certainly not racist," he said. "I want to stop the influx of new immigrants. This way, we can give those who are already here the opportunity to completely integrate into our society."

[MikeJ]

This is the best piece I've read about Fortuyn, by Dave Kopel - it appears to have been written just before his death: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_1123604,00.html

[Thane_Banquo]

I hate to say it, but hopefully this will create sympathy votes for Mr. Fortuyn's party. Unlike the fascist Le Pen of France, Mr. Fortuyn was more a Libertarian, and he wasn't an anti-Semite. Unfortunately, the mainstream media throws them all into the "right-wing" or "far-right" category without further discussing their views.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Pim was a breath of fresh air in the lefty-Netherlands. His List party may well win more than the 15% they were projected to gain in the election next week. The newspapers consistently call him right-wing for saying that Holland should belong to the Dutch!

[headsonpikes]

I don't see too many Muslims in the photos. Aren't they 10% of the population, even 30% in Rotterdam?

Gee whiz...I guess they're privately grieving; we know they don't like to get emotional in public.

[FReepaholic]

>>..Reports say he was an animal-rights activist ...<<

This is from the BBC. Not surprising that I've not seen or heard mention of this in the US media.

[Grampa Dave]

So was this hit man an Alf or an Elf financed by the Peta thugs? (Peta Veggie Burger at BK)

[knighthawk]

He was demonized, and killed for speaking up.

Democracy was not killed this week, it was killed months ago by the left. Fortuyn payed the price of freedom of speech. Why do the left, who blamed him for everything, from being a nazi to racist, say they are domcratic and support freedom of speech? Their true sleves have showed and it looks very much like East-Germany, Russia or even Prague, where the left used every weapon to counter people with diffrent thought then the leftists ones. They use tanks or bullets to counter this freedom.

He may be dead, but we will remember him as our hope. We will find a way to go on, we must continue in his honor.

IN MEMORIAM
PIM FORTUYN
1948 - 2002

[knighthawk]

Link to an article from the killer

[kaylar]

The influential media in the EU seems to be thinking the same way. Check out this article fromThe Times :Martyrdom should not grace Fortuyn's political message

[kaylar]

I mean, that his murder may make Fortuyn a martyr, and they regret that-more than his untimely murder, obviously.