Armed Man Demands Airtime On Dutch Broadcaster

Sky News says:– Dutch national broadcaster NOS temporarily went off air after an man armed with a gun entered the building and demanded airtime. The RTL press agency said a building belonging to NOS in Hilversum was cleared on Thursday evening after the man walked into the building.

He was later arrested at the scene, the agency added.

Reports claimed the man was aged 19 and claimed to be from a “hackers collective”. He was led into an empty studio by a security guard, and after pacing the studio said: “This is taking too long.” Police then stormed into the studio, ordered the man to lie down and he gave up without a struggle.

In a statement, they said he demanded airtime and threatened that bombs would go off at several locations if his demand was not met.

The BBC says:- Police have stormed the studio of the Dutch national broadcaster to arrest an armed man who demanded airtime. Thursday’s evening edition of the news was not broadcast. NOS director Jan de Jong initially said it was not clear how the man got through tight security. 

The Guardian has some video of his apprehension here. 

And while I didn’t hear any ‘allah akbaring’ from him Dutch News has some information about him that the British press are not mentioning. 

The young man who forced his way into the headquarters of Dutch public broadcaster Nos on Thursday evening is a 19-year-old youth from Pijnacker, close to Delft, the public prosecution department told a news conference.

The youth, who gave himself up when ordered to by police, had demanded access to airtime. He has been named on social media as Tarik Zahzah and according to unconfirmed reports is a student of chemistry at Delft University of Technology.