Project Thousands of young people came to Haren, including a number of rioters and hooligans.
What is Project
Project X is derived from the film of the same name. In this film, three students organize a party to boost their reputation. However, news of this party spreads very quickly, and before the students know what is happening, many more guests arrive than intended. With all its consequences. This movie was released in March 2012.
A similar project X was previously accidentally started in Germany. A German girl from Hamburg placed a call for her birthday. This call reached young people who were not invited to the party. Several hundred young people came to the girl’s home and fought with the police. They caused several tens of thousands of euros in damage. The girl’s parents were held liable and had to pay for the damage.
Project X Haren
In the Netherlands, a 15-year-old girl sent an invitation for her 16th birthday via Facebook under the events option. However, she forgot to set the invitation to private. As a result, her invitation became public. The news about the party in Haren spread very quickly. Separate Facebook pages were created to mark the celebration, which was dubbed Project X. Advertising posters were made. Ultimately, 33,000 people indicated that they would come to Haren. The municipality, police and emergency services were warned. There was an emphatic call not to come to Haren: the party would not take place. Local residents were warned by letter. This letter leaked and appeared on the internet.
On September 21, 2012, the year-old girl left their villa with her family to look for safe shelter. It was expected that some young people would come to Haren, but how many were not known. The police had placed crowd barriers in the girl’s street. The street sign was removed for fear of theft. At first it all seemed to go well with the number of visitors. However, after half past seven in the evening, several thousand young people appeared. Hooligans came to Haren especially to start riots.
Things got completely out of hand: great destruction was caused and some were very aggressive. When the riot police arrived, a group of hooligans deliberately fought with the riot police. 35 people were arrested. Other arrests were made via video images that the police received after a call. The rioters were held responsible for their behavior and the damage was their responsibility.
New project
After Haren, there was a lot of interest in a new Project The police kept a close eye on this. Most municipalities are negative about a call for Project In Schiedam, a new party was announced immediately after Haren. The riot police arrested 30 young people there on September 22, 2012.
A good party is not project X
A Project It is a party that has gone completely wrong, with destruction and aggression ensuing. A well-organized party of a large size has a permit from the municipality (if necessary), and does not cause any nuisance in the form of destruction, fireworks or aggression. A call for a party called Project X is always a call to riot. This can never be the intention of a good party.
Social media
News spreads rapidly through social media. A hype is more likely to be visited or contributed to. Project X is becoming a hype in 2012. Project X has received a lot of media attention, not only in the Netherlands, but also in other countries. Facebook has said it is not to blame for the consequences of the invitation. Many people do not share that view because Facebook refuses to change event settings.