Armed gunman forces his way into Dutch TV station to demand airtime

In dramatic scenes, a man brandishing a pistol stormed a news station and demanded to be broadcast on television.

15:30 30 January 2015

A 19-year-old has been arrested after he stormed the studios of the Netherlands’ national broadcaster NOS while holding a pistol.

The smartly dressed Dutch citizen threatened a guard with his pistol before entering a studio with the intent of broadcasting his message. However, the guard actually led him to an unused, empty studio instead. The ploy gave police forces time to move in and apprehend the man who has since been identified as a member of a "hackers collective".

The news station broadcast shots of the man pacing around with his black pistol behind his back while police surrounded the studios and staff made their exit.

“This is taking too long,” the man could be seen saying. Police then stormed the studio, shouting: “Drop it! Drop it! And get on your knees!” The man complied, saying, “I dropped it. It's dropped”, before being forced into handcuffs.

While his complete motives are unclear at this point, footage from NOS shows him saying “the things that are going to be said (pause) those are very large world affairs. We were hired by the security service.” as he possibly rehearsed his message.

Police spokesman Christine Scholts said: ”He took the security guard hostage and said he wanted air time. If they didn't give it to him, he said there would be bombs in different places in the Netherlands that would explode if he didn't get time on TV."