A candidate for the Dutch parliament was hauled out of a live TV debate when authorities mistook him for an notoriously risque animal rights protester.
Kevin Nuijten bears a striking resemblance to activist Peter Janssen, who has become infamous in the Netherlands for gatecrashing events dressed only in a black pair of briefs.
Last Thursday, Janssen made his latest appearance on a TV show hosted by the Dutch-American journalist Eva Jinek, popping up behind the presenter and shouting: ‘It’s always about people, but we should also talk about animals.’
As a result, security was keeping a close eye on the crowd for political events in the lead-up to major elections this Wednesday.
That was bad news for Nuijten, a candidate for right-wing party JA21 who was sitting in the audience for the Debate of the South in Tilburg on Saturday evening.
Guards at the studio where the debate was taking place led a bewildered Nuijten outside and placed him in a police van.
Only then – after their detainee insisted they look up his name on the internet – did it become clear they had the wrong man.
Nuijten said through a party spokesman that he had ‘good conversations’ with the officers, adding that it took around 15 minutes to convince them of who he was.
Renzo Veestra, the editor-in-chief of the broadcaster holding the debate, said: ‘We were told by the DKDB [Dutch diplomatic police], who had been tipped off by a reporter from a national broadcaster, that the man had a “100 percent” identification with the vegan streaker.
‘So, he was removed.’
As a goodwill gesture, Nuijten was given a beer and a branded scarf after his ordeal was over.
Janssen, 40, has been catching attention with pro-animal rights stunts for more than 15 years.
In 2009, he was arrested on suspicion of releasing up to 3,000 mink from a Dutch fur farm.
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At that point, he had already disrupted a hockey match, a tennis tournament and a road race – and been at the centre of a notorious incident on comedian Paul de Leeuw’s show, where the presenter reacted by pulling off Nuijten’s underwear.
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