a man set fire to a pride changing room in amsterdam. prosecutors now call it terrorism, and €750 landed in his account that day marked "gift." we have questions.

via NL Times and the Dutch news agency ANP (via ZeelandNet)

The fire itself was small. Someone threw something burning over a screen, a curtain caught, the room filled with smoke, and it was put out fast. That was Aug. 2, 2025, the day of Pride Amsterdam's Canal Parade, in a temporary changing room the Dutch railway NS had set up at Amsterdam Centraal for people heading to Pride. AT5 reported at the time that nobody was hurt. NS called it "disgusting".

On Tuesday, the case got a lot bigger. At a first hearing in Amsterdam, prosecutors said that fire, and a second one he set the same day on a seat of a train from Utrecht to Amsterdam, were a premeditated plan with terrorist intent, according to ANP and NL Times. The 27-year-old suspect, arrested in early July this year, has confessed to both fires. We are not naming him: he has not been convicted of anything, and terrorism is, for now, the prosecution's word.

Here is what prosecutors say backs it up. Just before the fires, he posted references to Islamic State sites on Instagram glorifying the group's ideology. He bought a small amount of gasoline the day before and, per ANP, has no plausible explanation for it. And on Pride day itself, €750 was deposited into his bank account with the description "cadeau," Dutch for "gift." NL Times reports that the bank inquiry is still going. The prosecutor said the fires frightened the rainbow community (our translation).

His lawyer, Shruti Toelsie, argued for his release and said this was desperation, not terrorism. He was in a bad way at the time, she told the court: according to ANP, he had been using drugs, lost his freelance work, lost his family and become homeless. The court kept him in custody, saying it could not rule out terrorist intent at this stage. Psychological reports are pending. The next hearing is Jan. 8, 2027.

A €750 "gift" on the day someone sets fire to Pride is either the strangest coincidence in Dutch banking or the whole case. We'll be watching January.