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| Photo: Serge Ligtenberg (Wikimedia) via Wikimedia Commons |
Police in Zwolle have admitted that Dutch rapper Typhoon was
pulled over while driving and questioned because he was ‘young, was driving a
brand new luxury car and because of his skin colour’.
Typhoon, real name Glenn
de Randamie, reported this incident on his Instagram account, saying it is not
the first time he has been stopped by police while driving.
‘The duty officer
(friendly chap, so that’s not an issue) admitted he had preconceptions and that
drugs money could be involved,’ Typhoon said on Instagram. ‘Unfortunately this
is the umpteenth time this has happened to me and I am a famous face. Others
don’t have that advantage.’
The police later issued a statement saying they
regretted the incident. Local police chief Arjan Mengerink said: ‘We consider
it crucial that the police are always neutral. We must not select on the basis
of appearance or origin, which is why we thought it important to deal with this
immediately.’
Anger
The police officer involved is aware he made an error and
had admitted this, Mengerink said.
Labour leader Diederik Samsom said he was
extremely angry about the case. ‘A famous Dutchman is stopped because of his
skin colour,’ Samsom said. ‘We should realise this happens to dozens of unknown
Dutch people with dark skin on a daily basis.’
Typhoon broke through in 2014
with the album Lobi Da Basi, which was declared the best record of the year by the
Volkskrant. Last July he was co-signatory to an opinion piece in the paper
calling for racism within the Dutch police force to be recognised.
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Sylvana Simons. Photo: Denk
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