Project X Haren

Project X Haren was an event that started out as a public invitation to a birthday party by a girl on Facebook, but ended up as a gathering of thousands of youths causing riots in the town of Haren, Groningen.

The event was unprecedented in the Netherlands, but in June 2011, a German girl posted similar birthday invitations on the internet. Hundreds of mostly drunk youths gathered in Hamburg, Germany, causing a great deal of damage and rioting against the police.

Riot control in Haren during a Project X inspired party in 2012.

Events before 21 September

On 6 September 2012, a 15 year old girl from Haren sent 78 friends a public invitation to her 16th birthday via the social network site Facebook. She deliberately chose the option 'public', so that her friends could bring other friends. This way, the girl hoped to obtain a head count. One of her friends' friends misused the invitation and invited 500 people himself. Through the notorious snowball effect thousands of people were added to that number in a matter of days. In just two days, 16.000 people were invited. The girl then deleted the event after consulting her parents. However, others took command and quickly Twitter and Facebook were filled with terms like Project X Merthe (the name of the girl), Project X Stationsweg (the street where the girl lived) and Project X Haren^[1] Project X is a reference to the 2012 film Project X directed by Nima Nourizadeh.

Project X Haren was run by a 21 year old man from Christchurch, New Zealand and an unknown individual from Berlin calling himself "Ibe Der Fuhrer". The 21 year old man claims he accepted the request from a Dutch person to host the Facebook event. The father of the birthday girl asked the two men to cancel the event, but they did not comply.^[2][3]

After the invitation Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other weblogs and internet forums were quickly filled with conversations regarding Project X. Within a week, 24.000 people were invited and 2.400 had accepted. On 14 September, the girl's parents distributed a letter in their neighborhood to warn residents of the rising concerns. This letter quickly appeared on the internet.

On 18 September, the municipality Haren and the local police force agreed to act strongly if the party would escalate. By then, the rumours had spread to the national media. 55.000 people had been invited, 6.000 of them accepted.^[4][5] Local entrepreneurs took advantage of the situation and organised afterparties in Groningen. Between 19 and 21 September, the expected attendance grew from 8.000 to 30.000.^[6] On the 21st alone, circa 400.000 Tweets were sent regarding Project X Haren.

Rioters facing the riot police

Riot control walking along the debris-filled streets

As a precaution, the girl and the family were moved to an undisclosed location and the neighbourhood was closed off on 21 September. Rob Bats, mayor of Haren at the time, and the municipal council decided not to organise a party to accommodate the visitors and summoned people not to come to Haren.^[7][8] A nearby football field was designed as a shelter in case of attendance overload and the local police conversed with German police because an equivalent Project X event had earlier taken place there.^[9]

Events on 21 September

In the morning and afternoon a few hundred people had traveled to Haren, but the number of visitors appeared to be diminishing towards the beginning of the evening. However, around 7:30 p.m. thousands of youths poured in and around 9:00 p.m. the riots started. Rioters from all around the country commenced destroying cars, bicycles, windows and street furniture. According to the police, the destruction of property was extremely violent and well-planned, and the rioters deliberately sought confrontation.^[10][11]

At 9:30 riot control was commissioned to control the crowd. At 11:00 back up police officers arrived from the provinces Friesland and Drenthe. 36 rioters and 15 policemen were injured. Nearby hospitals reported cuts, head injuries and bruises. An aged man was assaulted in his home and was badly injured. In total, 500 policemen were commissioned, of which 250 were riot control.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17]}

Busses were sent to get people out of Haren and move them to Groningen. 12 of the 24 busses were damaged by bystanders.^[18][19]

Events after 21 September

Project Clean X

After the riots, Facebook was used to gather people on 22 September to help clean up Haren.^[20][21]

Accusations and arrestments

• On 21 September 34 rioters were arrested.^[22] On 22 September two teenagers gave themselves up guided by their parents. According to the Public Prosecutor, most rioters were 18 or 19 years old, but 11 suspects were under aged.^[23][24][25]

• One person was released on 22 September, but was still a suspect. 25 of the 35 remaining arrested rioters were released on 24 September with a summons. Six individuals accused of serious criminal offences were summoned on 25 September. One of them was released. All 35 suspects were sentenced in October 2012.^[26][27][28]

• In October 2012, hundreds of new leads were sent to the police and 50 reports of destruction were made.^[29][30] This lead to another 19 arrestments.^[31][32][33]

• Two journalists reporting from Haren for local television networks RTV Noord and RTV Drenthe made a statement to the police that they were hit by riot control, while they were clearly doing their job.

• On 30 October 2012 the police showed recognisable photographs of a dozen rioters in a national television program. Seven of them were quickly identified.^[34]

• On 25 July 2013 12 rioters were sentenced to imprisonment and community services. They also had to make a financial contribution to a fund for compensation for harmed citizens of Haren.^[35]

Other Project X parties

After Project X Haren various other Project X invitations were sent out for, among others, Gouda, Alkmaar and Amersfoort. On 22 September 2012, a group of youths was arrested in Schiedam for instigation after having gathered for a Project X party. The municipality of Arnhem closed off all entrances to the city after an announcement regarding a Project X party,^[36] but everything remained calm. In Uden, a 15 year old boy was arrested for announcing a Project X party on Twitter.^[37][38][39]

Investigations

Shortly after the events in Haren investigations were announced. These would be lead by a commission composed of:

• Chairman: Job Cohen, former leader of the Labour Party, Dutch: Partij van de Arbeid (abbr. PvdA), and former mayor of Amsterdam;
• Gabriël van den Brink, professor in public administration at Tilburg University;
• Otto Adang, lecturer Openbare orde en Gevaarbeheersing at a police academy.
• Jan van Dijk, professor in Communication sciences and New media at Twente University;
• Thomas Boeschoten, student New media at Utrecht University^[40]

The evaluation had several goals. First of all, the commission set out to account the government for its relation to the events. Also was tried to gain a clearer insight in this phenomenon to prevent future escalating violence. The principal investigator was the municipality Haren, but the investigations were also monitored on a national level.

On 8 March 2013, the commission announced its results:^[41]

• The visitors in Haren were mainly youths.
• Hooligans did not play an important role.
• Alcohol was the main cause of the arising of the riots.
• The government had no control over the events from the start and did not have a clear strategy, causing policemen to be unsure of their tasks.
• Mayor Rob Bats exerted his power too little and waiting way too long before calling in extra help.

As a result of the published report Rob Bats laid down his function as mayor on 1 April 2013.

References