Leftwing parties in Spain are demanding explanations after a video appeared to show a pair of police officers using violent force on two unarmed black men in a central Madrid neighbourhood.
The video, shot on Friday in Lavapiés, appears to show one of the men on the ground and immobilised by a police officer who seemingly has him in a chokehold.
As video of the encounter swiftly spread across social media, a police source told the Europa Press news agency that the two men had been arrested for undermining authority.
In questions submitted to parliament, Errejón noted that the video appeared to show “an aggression” by two police officers, carried out on one man he described as immobilised and another who was not resisting.
Errejón called on the interior ministry to clarify whether an investigation had been opened into the officers’ behaviour, asking: “What measures will be taken in response to citizen complaints regarding the existence of police violence against migrants in the Lavapiés neighbourhood?”
“This is a situation that we live daily,” said Serigne Mbayé, a former regional politician and now the antiracism secretary for Podemos, in a video posted online from the protest.
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It's surprising that these acts have shown up on the news roll. I recall that 10-15 years ago we would have more recorded instances of police brutality in Spain, usually involving local police. Edit: also the shameful acts of the national police when the rodea el congreso demonstration took place.
I don't think the amount of acts like this has been declining, but rather a byproduct of the disgraceful ley mordaza, which the current government pledged to remove and never got around to.
In other words, it's surprising that this video has managed to make its way up to the news roll, but ultimately nothing new under the sun.
Well the thing is, this isn't just a thing in Spain, or just a thing in Germany, or just a thing in France, or just a thin in Italy, or Croatio, or Hungary, or Austria, the Netherlands, or Belgium or Poland...
It is a specifically european problem in the context of the EU, as opposed to just a problem in a single member state.
That doesn't deny that it is also a problem on other continents.
“But what about the Americans” is literally the weakest argument in this context.
Police violence against minorities is happening right now in our cities. It’s not just an American problem, despite what you might think if your watch the news.