REVOLT: Dutch protesters riot over plans to build refugee center in small town of Geldermalsen.

A meeting of a Dutch town’s council to discuss plans to build a center to house 1,500 asylum seekers in Geldermalsen turned into a battlefield after crowds of rioters tried to storm the building, throwing fireworks and stones at police, chanting anti-immigrant slogans.

Police first tried to disperse rioters with batons but failed. The town hall was filled with smoke after demonstrators threw fireworks. Crowds of protesters broke through the gates and banged on the windows of the council building. The meeting had to be cut short and evacuated. Police had to fire warning shots.

“It was almost war,” local police spokesman Paul Koetsier said, regional Dutch broadcaster Omroep Gelderland reported.

Over 2,000 people reportedly joined the violent protest in Geldermalsen, a Dutch town of 27,000, in what has been the biggest display of anti-immigrant feeling in the Netherlands since the attack on a Syrian refugee center in October.

Video at the link. More footage here.