Theo van Gogh murdered on the streets of Amsterdam
Theo van Gogh was murdered in Amsterdam on Tuesday, November 2. The 47-year-old film director and publicist was shot and stabbed several times by his assassin on the streets of the Dutch capital. Van Gogh had made no secret of his sympathy for the policies and restrictive immigration policies of the party led by the right-wing populist Pim Fortuyn, who was himself murdered in May 2002.
The presumed assassin, Mohammed B., a 26-year-old Dutchman of Moroccan descent, first shot van Gogh, then stabbed him and left behind a note. According to newspaper reports the note called for a “holy war,” although a government release states that the text consisted merely of quotes from the Koran.