The assassination of Pim Fortuyn has rocked the Netherlands and, as The Economist puts it, “given Europe’s extreme right a martyr.” The news coverage of Fortuyn is complicated, however; he’s clearly anti-immigration but the press attributes his opposition to Muslim immigrants in particularly as a function of their homophobia and misogyny. Fortuyn himself is gay. His newly-established party was predicted to capture 15% of the vote in the May 15th general election, making him a potential player in coalition politics. Chillingly, he predicted he would be killed and blamed Dutch prime minister Wim Kok for not providing him with any protection, taking no responsibility for garnering enmity himself due to the unpopularity of his position and his penchant for alienating and offending political opponents of all stripes with blunt dismissals. The Dutch government was quick to publicize the fact that the suspect they arrested was a “white Dutchman.” A number of news sources at which I’ve followed coverage of his assassination betray their flair for the dramatic by puzzling over his assailant’s motive, but some reports describe him as an extreme leftist. The Economist
