Riot at Brussels attacks shrine; 13 anti-terror raids made

BRUSSELS � Belgian riot police clashed Sunday with hundreds of right-wing hooligans at a temporary shrine honouring victims of the Brussels suicide bombings, as investigators launched fresh anti-terror raids, taking four more people into custody.

Police used water cannon when scuffles broke out in front of the Bourse, which has become a symbolic rallying point for people to pay their respects to those who died in Tuesday�s attacks. Black clad men carrying an anti-Islamic State group banner with an expletive on it trampled parts of the shrine, shouting Nazi slogans. Ten were arrested and two police officers injured.

�We had 340 hooligans from different football clubs who came to Brussels and we knew for sure that they would create some trouble,� Police Commissioner Christian De Coninck said. �It was a very difficult police operation because lots of families with kids were here.�

�It was important for us to be here symbolically,� said Samia Orosemane, a 35-year-old comedian. But, she added, �there were lots of men who were here and doing the Nazi salute, shouting �death to Arabs� and so we weren�t able to get through.�

Interior Minister Jan Jambon conceded Sunday that decades of neglect had hampered the government�s response to violent extremism. He said the government has invested 600 million euros ($670 million) into police and security services over the past two years but that Belgium�s justice system and security services are still lagging behind.

Jambon said it takes time to hire anti-terror specialists and specialized equipment and insisted that the government�s new investments need time before they become visible to the public.

As international pressure on Belgium has mounted for serving as an unwitting rear-base for extremist fighters who launched the Nov. 13 massacres that left 130 dead in Paris, the government has felt forced to defend its choices and the actions of investigators. Lawmakers, meanwhile, are demanding an inquiry.

"Thanos" said
There's a good video out there of a Pegida-type punching some liberal in the face at the Brussels memorial gathering rally after the boys arrived uninvited and disrupted the event. The big dumb queer went to rip up one of the Pegida banners and some fire plug of a Belgian smoked him in the head and put him down. It's easy to find under "hero of Brussels" on Twitter but I couldn't find it on YouTube. Maybe someone better with the searches than I am can find it and post it here because it's a good one. Very encouraging to see some of the remaining real European men do the right thing instead of meekly surrendering to those who are less than rats in worth.