The Dutch national Diani police spitting psychosis plea has gripped online conversations, as Elwin Ter Horst, the foreigner caught on camera hurling abuse and saliva at officers in a Kwale station, begs for mercy while citing his mental health struggles in a desperate bid to soften the fallout from his shocking outburst.
The video, which exploded across social platforms Tuesday, shows the 45-year-old Dutchman in a frenzy, gobbling mucus and targeting a male constable, sparking outrage and swift calls for his ouster from Kenyan soil.
The chaos unfolded late Monday evening at Diani Police Station, a stone’s throw from his hotel, which draws sun seekers to this coastal gem.
Ter Horst, who goes by the moniker Mufasa in expat circles, had been hauled in after a domestic brawl with his Kenyan girlfriend at their rented beachfront villa.
Witnesses say the argument escalated from petty jabs over dinner plans into full-throttle fury, with Ter Horst allegedly shoving her against a wall before neighbours dialled emergency lines.
Cops arrived to de-escalate, but inside the dimly lit station, things boiled over. Cellphone footage, shaky but damning, captures Ter Horst towering over the desk sergeant, veins bulging as he unleashes a tirade in broken English laced with Dutch curses.
“You people don’t understand!” he bellows, before hocking a glob of spit that lands square on the officer’s uniform sleeve. Another hawking follows, mucus flying like venom, as backup rushes in to pin him down.
The targeted constable, a 28-year-old father of two, wiped his face stone-faced but later confided to colleagues it felt like a personal assault on dignity.
“I’ve faced drunks and dealers, but this? It’s dehumanising,” the officer shared in a quiet moment outside the station, his badge still flecked with mucus residue.
Netizens didn’t hold back. “Tourists think beaches come with bad behaviour passes,” vented one local influencer. Others pitied the mental angle, with mental health advocates urging compassion over knee jerks.
Ter Horst, now in a holding cell with a swollen jaw from the scuffle, broke down during questioning Wednesday morning.
“I have psychosis,” he stammered through an interpreter, tears streaking his sunburnt cheeks. “Extreme stress from work back home, mixed with the heat here. It snapped something in me. Please, forgive. I love Kenya; this isn’t me.”
Investigators aren’t buying the full sob story yet. Kwale County Police Commander Abdillahi Alio confirmed charges of assaulting an officer, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest, with domestic violence counts pending from his girlfriend’s statement.
“His plea is noted, but actions have consequences,” Alio told reporters at a brief roadside scrum.
Deportation wheels are already turning; immigration officials flagged his visa as tourist grade, no work permit in sight, and sources say a flight manifest to Amsterdam is being prepped for as early as Friday.
Ter Horst, a freelance graphic designer who splits time between Utrecht and East Africa, had been in Kenya for three months, charming villa hosts with tales of safari sketches until this unravelling.
The girlfriend, a 32-year-old tour guide who asked for pseudonym protection, gave a measured account to counsellors. “We were good until the pressure built,” she said softly over tea in a Ukunda cafe.
“He’d mumble about voices sometimes, but I thought it was jet lag. Now? I’m just glad it’s over.” Her bruises, faint purple blooms on her arms, tell a quieter horror than the video’s spectacle.
Last summer, a British diver headbutted a lifeguard over a snorkel fee, earning a quick boot. But Ter Horst’s mental health hook adds layers, stirring debates on screening arrivals or mandating wellness checks for long-term stayers.