Several news sites are reporting an assassination attempt against Dutch right winger Pim Fortuyn. According to CNN, Dutch Radio is reporting that Fortuyn was shot several times in the head after leaving a radio interview.
I caught most of a radio interview with Fortuyn last week related to the strong showing by his party, Livable Netherlands. Fortuyn was the leader of LN until the party removed him after he said that laws banning discrimination against immigrants should be overturned.
The thing that caught my attention in the interview is that Fortuyn is not a typical right wing politician. He’s an openly gay man who is opposed to immigration from Muslim countries on the ground that Islam is a backward religion because, among other things, it is intolerant of homosexuality.
Fortuyn wrote a book about his views, “Against the Islamicization of Our Culture” and found rather surprising levels of support for LN. He was especially popular with young voters, half of whom in some surveys said they would vote for LN.
Elections in the Netherlands are set to take place on May 15.
Update: CNN now reports that Dutch police confirm that Fortuyn is dead.