A bank inside the European Parliament building in Brussels has been robbed at gunpoint. Yes, *inside* the European Parliament building. The robber in question is still on the run – possibly hiding in the EP itself.
Nothing much from the news media yet, so how do we know? Thanks to this tweet from Tony Robinson, Head of Press and Communications for the European Parliament Socialist Group, who followed up with a photo of the search.
Police checking everyone leaving the European Parliament after armed robbery at bank branch. 10,000 people a day visit the EP in Brussels. about 1 hour ago from web
Police checking everyone leaving the European Parliament after armed robbery at bank branch. 10,000 people a day visit the EP in Brussels. about 1 hour ago from web
Robinson’s Twitter coverage in full so far, from here (rearranged into chronological order):
Armed Robbery at I N G bank in european parliament. police hunting for suspect. about 1 hour ago from txthttp://www.twitpic.com/1g6a8 37 minutes ago from web
EP bank robber had wig, makeup and a gun. The robber’s coat were found two floors up. Security cameras were not focussed on the bank door. 33 minutes ago from web
Mikhail Gorbachev was attending a conference in the EP today but reported to have left before the armed robbery. 31 minutes ago from web
Robber reported to have threatened bank staff with a gun before making off with cash. 29 minutes ago from web
Journalists complained about tight European Commission security at midday briefing today. EP less strict, they said. Then the robber struck 23 minutes ago from web
European Voice have got a short report up now, so we have confirmation.
I don’t remember EP security being *that* bad last time I was there. But it is a vast, sprawling complex… Still, I wonder what the response will be? Over-reaction or measured?
And more importantly, how big must that robber’s balls have been? Try that at Westminster, you’d likely end up shot…
Update: And now, about an hour and 20 minutes after Robinson’s tweet, more details via EU Observer.
February 13th, 2009 at 11:02 am
High time for a withdrawal theme resonant with the part of your readership who are anti-EU, but in many cases prefer to be called Eurosceptics :-)
February 16th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
If the robbers had got themselves appointed to a parliamentary list, or for that matter elected to westminster, they could have got away with far more money.
February 25th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Can you give me the timestamp for this post?
I’m compiling a timeline on “why twitter helps with the news”.
Rgds
February 25th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Originally published at 5:30pm UK time, which means that the original tweets would have been c.4:30 UK time (or 5:30 Brussels time), so within a few minutes of the robbery.
Bugger all coverage of this in the UK, which was odd.
February 28th, 2009 at 6:00 am
Thanks. I’m covering it as an example of the effect of twitter in an E-Book – so it is now (sort of).