No Consequences for Violence in the Netherlands

I want to share an experience I had recently that left me utterly shocked by the lack of consequences for violent behavior here in the Netherlands. It happened at Utrecht Central Station.

I was exiting a nearly empty train late in the afternoon. As the doors opened, there was an older gentleman, around 60 years old, stepping out alongside me. Just as we started to exit, a group of about 10 young men, seemingly between 20 and 30 years old, stormed into the train with full force, not waiting for anyone to exit first.

The older gentleman, calmly and politely, said to them in Dutch: “First out, then you go in.” Their response? They ignored him, shoved him aside, and one of them pushed him so hard that he fell to the ground, breaking his glasses. I tried to intervene, but I was alone, and there were too many of them. The situation escalated within seconds—they hit the man on the head with a beer bottle, leaving him bleeding.

The man managed to get up, get his broken glasses, and called for the train manager. The train was held up for 20–30 minutes while we waited for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, the group of young men spread out inside the train to avoid being seen. They were laughing the entire time, showing zero remorse.

The group continued to be provocative, even hurling insults at me in Dutch, saying the typical things like “cancer” and daring me to get back on the train so they could “settle it.” I called them cowards for ganging up on an older man, but of course, they just laughed.

When the police finally arrived, I thought justice would be served—but no. They simply asked for the young men’s IDs and didn’t take any immediate action. They didn’t even hear the older man’s side of the story. Instead, they told him he’d need to schedule an appointment to file a report. And that was it.

No consequences for the aggressors. A 60-year-old man was left bleeding, other passengers were delayed for almost half an hour, and those responsible walked away as if nothing had happened.

How is this possible?