An armed man was arrested on Thursday night after entering the offices of the Dutch national broadcaster NOS and demanding to go on air.
The Dutch-speaking man, who appeared to be in his twenties, wore a black suit and tie and entered a studio after threatening a security guard with a pistol, witnesses said.
Video broadcast on NOS showed the man pacing in the studio with the weapon behind his back.
He claimed to represent a “hackers’ collective” and could be heard saying that he “wanted to talk about things that are of world importance”.
“This is taking too long,” the man said. Police then stormed into the studio, telling him to drop the gun. He complied and was handcuffed by officers.
NOS said he appeared to be a student who had recently lost both parents. It also said he did not appear on security services’ lists of suspected Islamist militants.
The network produces the highest-rating news bulletin in the Netherlands from its studios in Hilversum. Security has been tight there since populist politician Pim Fortuyn was shot outside a studio in 2002.
The incident interrupted the 8pm bulletin while the building was evacuated and the network was off air for about an hour. NOS resumed broadcasting from a studio in The Hague while the building was searched.
NOS chief Jan de Jong said no one had been injured in the incident.
