The Belgian immigration-critical politician Filip Dewinter from Vlaams Belang was attacked on Friday by individuals from a Moroccan wedding party in Antwerp. The politician was grabbed by the throat, pushed against a wall, and reports that he was then punched and kicked by several individuals. He sustained a bleeding injury above his eyebrow and has filed a police report about the incident.

The incident occurred on Friday, October 9th, around lunchtime outside the city hall on Grote Markt in central Antwerp. Filip Dewinter, 64, is a member of the Flemish parliament and a city councilor in Antwerp for the nationalist and immigration-critical party Vlaams Belang.

Together with his party colleague Anke Van dermeersch, he was on his way to the city hall for a meeting and to sign a condolence book. Outside the building, about 50 people were gathered, participating in a Belgian-Moroccan wedding celebration.

DeWinter signing the condolence book

According to Dewinter, he was recognized as he tried to make his way through the crowd towards the entrance of the city hall. Several people then began shouting insults and calling him a racist.

– As I walked through the crowd, who were beating drums, people began to recognize me. They shouted things like “racist” and other insults, he told the Belgian newspaper PAL.

Grabbed by the throat

According to Dewinter, the verbal attacks quickly escalated into physical violence.

– Suddenly, I was grabbed by a strong man, a real bouncer type. He pushed me into the city hall and pinned me against the wall. There, I was punched and kicked until I was bleeding, he said.

Parts of the incident were filmed by Anke Van dermeersch and have since spread on social media. In the footage, a strong man can be seen grabbing Dewinter and pressing him back against a wall inside the city hall’s entrance.

Dewinter sustained a bleeding injury above his eyebrow. According to his own account, between ten and fifteen people participated in the violence, but that number has not been independently verified.

The police were called to the scene and intervened to separate those involved. According to the Belgian public broadcaster VRT, two individuals from the wedding party were detained.

Dewinter has filed a criminal complaint for assault. Van dermeersch also claims that she was subjected to violence during the confrontation.

Wedding Guests Accuse Politicians

However, the Moroccans present claim a different account of how the altercation began. According to Het Laatste Nieuws, members of the wedding party say the conflict arose after Van dermeersch began filming the family against their will.

The family also accuses Van dermeersch of hitting the bride’s mother.

This accusation is categorically denied by Dewinter and Van dermeersch. The politicians say the filming only started after the threatening situation had already developed.

– My colleague Van dermeersch has not hit anyone. She has only recorded video, Dewinter said.

Vlaams Belang has also released an official statement describing the incident as a violent attack on two elected politicians. The party claims certain media outlets are wrongly trying to portray them as responsible for the confrontation.

“Never Experienced Such Aggression”

Dewinter, who for decades has been one of Belgium’s most prominent immigration-critical politicians, says he is regularly subjected to insults in public. But he describes Friday’s events as out of the ordinary.

– The aggression is just getting worse and worse. It happens that people shout at me on the street, but I have never experienced this kind of aggression inside Antwerp’s city hall before, he told PAL.

He himself links the attack to the political conflict surrounding immigration and the opposition he faces for his political views.

Here you can see parts of the incident:

On his X account, DeWinter writes that “Antwerp has truly become an occupied city, handed over to immigrants and foreigners who feel like masters here.”