The incident took place at Bar Boele and is confirmed by the victim –who is a board member of the student union SRVU – and by three witnesses. It reportedly began with an argument about the song Erika, a well-known Nazi song, which was sung by Marlon U. and Reinout V., who is also a member of the University Student Council (USC), during a USC drinks gathering.
Afterwards, the argument about the song flared up again at Bar Boele, where the USC gathering continued. “V. said that I should be deported and U. said I was lucky there were cameras everywhere,” said the SRVU board member, who does not wish to be named in Ad Valvas. “U. poured a glass of beer over me. I then poured a glass of beer over him as well, and then he slammed me to the floor and punched me in the face. It all happened very quickly.”
Another witness, who also does not wish to be named in Ad Valvas, says she did not catch what triggered the incident, “but I saw the victim being punched on the nose by U. He was then thrown to the ground and hit several times. A number of people intervened, and we were sent outside by the staff of Bar Boele. After that, the police and VU security arrived. U. and V. took off. Given the hard blows, I thought the damage was relatively limited. The victim had a bloody nose and some cuts on his face. He mainly seemed shocked and irritated.”
Nazi vibes
According to a second witness, who also wishes to remain anonymous, V. tried to stop U. when he began hitting the victim. “When we were sent outside, I stayed with the victim and checked how he was doing. U. walked past and I looked at him, probably not very kindly. He then insulted me using the n-word, probably to provoke me, but I ignored it. I am angry about it though.”
The USC member at whom U. and V. allegedly directed the Nazi song, whose first name is also Erika, was sitting at the table with the two men when U. and his victim started throwing beer. “I don’t know whether they sang that song to tease me or whether it was meant as a joke to them, but I did get Nazi vibes when I heard them talking about a northern country behind an ice wall where only blonde, blue-eyed people would live. I later googled it and discovered that it is a popular myth in certain circles.”
Erika says that the victim came to the table and that an argument then broke out about the song, during which U. “became very rude,” beer was spilled, and the punching began. “V. was just standing there; he didn’t do anything.”
Bloodstains
Outside on the street, U. and V. quickly ran away once it became clear that the police had been called, according to her. “I ran after them and told them not to be afraid. U. had bloodstains on his white trousers. They walked in the direction of the Zuidas.”
One of the witnesses says that U. was very drunk. According to the others, including the victim, he was at most slightly intoxicated. “Alcohol is always involved when he becomes this unpleasant, but he had not crossed this line before,” said the witness who believes he was very drunk.
U. is a controversial figure at VU. Through fairly right-wing media outlets such as De Telegraaf, Ongehoord Nederland and Powned, he frequently complains that the VU is too woke. Issues related to the LGBTQ+ community in particular appear to irritate him. During the student council elections in April last year, he is said – according to a report by the USR election committee and several eyewitnesses – to have seriously intimidated people and caused damage on the VU campus. “This has to stop at some point,” says one of the witnesses.
Hate crime
‘We are incredibly shocked by how our board member was beaten; it really kept us awake at night’, SRVU writes in a press release. ‘What makes it even more painful is that this behavior has been known for more than two years, yet no steps have ever been taken by VU to address it.’ Because U. and V. allegedly also used racist slurs, the SRVU refers to the incident as a ‘hate crime’.
According to SRVU chair Jelle Gnoth and all others involved, the reason nothing was made public earlier about the assault is that no one wanted to interfere with the police investigation. U. was reportedly untraceable for several weeks, with police repeatedly unable to find him at home.
As is customary when it comes to misconduct by the VSP, VU limited itself to a formal response to questions from Ad Valvas. A spokesperson texted that ‘ensuring everyone’s (social) safety is always the highest priority’ and, ‘for reasons of privacy’, made no statements about individuals. The VU also declined to comment on possible measures against U. and/or V. According to several people involved, one of them has received a campus ban.
USR chair Anne Bruggink, who was not a witness, believes VU is handling the case properly. “I can’t say much because the investigation is still ongoing, but a lot is definitely happening behind the scenes. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t an immediate solution; that simply takes time. The USC will issue a statement later and distance itself from this violence. The reason we haven’t done so yet is that we didn’t want to create too much commotion that could hinder the investigation.”
Police investigation
The police wrote in an email that ‘an investigation was launched immediately after the incident, during which witnesses were interviewed and camera footage was reviewed, among other things. This led to two arrests on 30 and 31 December 2025: a 25-year-old man from Almere is suspected of public violence and attempted aggravated assault, and a 25-year-old man from Amsterdam is suspected of public violence. Both have been released pending further investigation; the case will later be referred to the Public Prosecution Service.’
Ad Valvas contacted U., V., and the VSP but received no response. It is the policy of the VSP and of U. not to speak with Ad Valvas because they are dissatisfied with its coverage of the VSP. No one at Bar Boele was willing to comment on the case either.