A Dictionary of Dutchness

Meindert Tjoelker

On 13 September 1997 Meindert Tjoelker was kicked to death in Leeuwarden by a group of young men whom he had tried to stop from vandalising a bike. The local police chief described Tjoelker, who was about to get married, as a victim of zinloos geweld (senseless violence). The phrase has now become standard to describe pointless acts of violence. The foundation against senseless violence uses
a ladybird as its symbol.