Spain’s Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into what happened Friday in the central Lavapiés neighborhood of Madrid, where two police officers used force against two unarmed black men.
The incident was denounced by the Podemos activist and member of the Madrid Assembly, Serigne Mbayé, who released a video online showing a police officer immobilizing an unarmed black person, while one of his colleagues hits him on the back with a truncheon. The latter then pushes and hits another man who however reacts and walks away.
Punches and truncheons against two unarmed black men: the police intervention that outrages Spain
The two men arrested were said to have taken part in a fight related to drugs. According to police sources, when the officers arrived on site, they managed to separate the four contenders, but the two protagonists of the video maintained a hostile and violent attitude towards the police. After the intervention, the two men were arrested and charged with drug trafficking, while an officer was injured and a police car was disabled.
The images sparked deep indignation in Spain, where the SOS Racismo association organized a demonstration on Easter Sunday with the aim of “denouncing police violence and racial discrimination”.
The stance of the Podemos party is also tough, which through its general secretary, Ione Belarra, has asked for the resignation of the Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska: «In recent years, Mr. Grande-Marlaska has not lifted a finger to put an end to police brutality with racist undertones, as we saw last week.”
«We must take racism seriously», Belarra herself then underlined, recalling that «only a few days earlier we had seen the Real Madrid footballer, Vinicius, burst into tears during a press conference due to the racist insults he had to suffer on the pitch» .
However, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, mayor of Madrid, expresses his support for the police, confirming his “total” trust, until “proved otherwise”.