Demagogue

The spate of recent gangland killings here is deadly (literally) serious stuff, but I had to chuckle at this. Where else but in the Netherlands does the mob use ride-by shootings?

Eyewitnesses said two people on bikes approached the victim on the Tjotterspad at about 8.15pm and shot him at close range, possibly with an automatic weapon.

The man, identified as 44-year-old George van Kleef, died at the scene. The killers escaped by bicycle in the direction of the Amsterdamse Bos (wood).

I ride my bike through the Amsterdamse Bos on my way to and from work, and I walk along the Gerrit van der Veenstraat, where the first murder occurred, every day. But I still must admit to being amused in a maccabre and unhealthy way by this story.