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Matrix · 26-09-2012, 10:42

Exactly. It was a combination of a lot of stuff that made this happen.

- A girl created a Facebook event for a party for her 16th birthday. The event was public and everyone could invite others.
- When it had too many invitations, she removed the event, but some random guy created a new one, calling it Project X Haren. That one eventually had about 30,000 people who would come.
- The traditional media loved the story and showed it, while showing bits of the movie, creating even more attention.
- One particular radio DJ called on people to go to Haren and party.
- People on twitter also commented a lot about it. (#projectxharen)
- The mayor (in the Netherlands the chairman of the police and public prosecutors) thought about organising an alternative party, since the house/street where the girl lives is dormant and boring. Eventually though he called it off and advised people not to come at all. The whole (albeit short) street was blocked off.
- People did come and where just standing there talking and drinking, as there was basically nothing to do. But it seemed a pretty funny nice party anyway. At the peak there were 3,000 people. The village has 18,000 inhabitants.
- Within five minutes the atmosphere flipped and became hostile. The police and riot control initially didn't do anything.
- Eventually they charged, splitting the group in three parts. That's when they started pillaging, smashing in windows and plundering the supermarket, ('my' supermarket).
- Known rioters and troublemakers, like people with football stadium embargos, where sighted there as well.

So who's to blame?
1. The girl turning 16, for initiating it?
2. The guy who created the second Facebook event, for letting the party continue?
3. The traditional media for giving it so much attention?
4. The radio DJ for inciting people to go?
5. The twitterers for giving it more attention?
6. The mayor for not creating an alternative party?
7. The mayor for letting people in the village in the first place?
8. The riot control for intervening too late?
9. The party people for actually showing up while the mayor called it off?
10. Or just the rioters themselves?

This is the entire list of those who were blamed for it. Personally I think it's primarily 10, secondarily 2 and 6, and morally (but not politically/juridically) 4 and 9.

But the annoying thing is that the investigation is already a political game. The mayor is from the Liberal Party, and the Queen's Commissioner (head of the province) from the Labour Party. It is unclear who had the authority in the end, because on major incidents the authority would be levelled up from the municipality to the province. They have not told us whether the last thing has happened. (Theoretically it could even go national, meaning the army would show up.) In any case, the mayor called for an investigation, but with as goal to see how the victims can be helped. That's not an issue! We have Victim Support for that. Sure, who's going to pay the bill is another matter. But they should try and find out why this has not been prevented, and how to prevent it from happening again. But of course an investigation from the mayor means he formulated in such a way that the result of the investigation cannot be that he is to blame.

Way too many letters in one post... Sorry...

26-09-2012, 10:42	#5
Matrix Administrator Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Tampere, Finland Posts: 4,828	Exactly. It was a combination of a lot of stuff that made this happen. - A girl created a Facebook event for a party for her 16th birthday. The event was public and everyone could invite others. - When it had too many invitations, she removed the event, but some random guy created a new one, calling it Project X Haren. That one eventually had about 30,000 people who would come. - The traditional media loved the story and showed it, while showing bits of the movie, creating even more attention. - One particular radio DJ called on people to go to Haren and party. - People on twitter also commented a lot about it. (#projectxharen) - The mayor (in the Netherlands the chairman of the police and public prosecutors) thought about organising an alternative party, since the house/street where the girl lives is dormant and boring. Eventually though he called it off and advised people not to come at all. The whole (albeit short) street was blocked off. - People did come and where just standing there talking and drinking, as there was basically nothing to do. But it seemed a pretty funny nice party anyway. At the peak there were 3,000 people. The village has 18,000 inhabitants. - Within five minutes the atmosphere flipped and became hostile. The police and riot control initially didn't do anything. - Eventually they charged, splitting the group in three parts. That's when they started pillaging, smashing in windows and plundering the supermarket, ('my' supermarket). - Known rioters and troublemakers, like people with football stadium embargos, where sighted there as well. So who's to blame? 1. The girl turning 16, for initiating it? 2. The guy who created the second Facebook event, for letting the party continue? 3. The traditional media for giving it so much attention? 4. The radio DJ for inciting people to go? 5. The twitterers for giving it more attention? 6. The mayor for not creating an alternative party? 7. The mayor for letting people in the village in the first place? 8. The riot control for intervening too late? 9. The party people for actually showing up while the mayor called it off? 10. Or just the rioters themselves? This is the entire list of those who were blamed for it. Personally I think it's primarily 10, secondarily 2 and 6, and morally (but not politically/juridically) 4 and 9. But the annoying thing is that the investigation is already a political game. The mayor is from the Liberal Party, and the Queen's Commissioner (head of the province) from the Labour Party. It is unclear who had the authority in the end, because on major incidents the authority would be levelled up from the municipality to the province. They have not told us whether the last thing has happened. (Theoretically it could even go national, meaning the army would show up.) In any case, the mayor called for an investigation, but with as goal to see how the victims can be helped. That's not an issue! We have Victim Support for that. Sure, who's going to pay the bill is another matter. But they should try and find out why this has not been prevented, and how to prevent it from happening again. But of course an investigation from the mayor means he formulated in such a way that the result of the investigation cannot be that he is to blame. Way too many letters in one post... Sorry... __________________ Last edited by Matrix; 26-09-2012 at 10:48.