Hooded men force entry into immigrants’ homes in Porto and attack them with sticks | PSP

In the early hours of Friday, a group of 15 hooded individuals forced entry into a house in the Bonfim area, in the center of Porto, where a group of immigrants live, most of them Algerians, and attacked those present with sticks. Two of the victims had to receive hospital treatment, one of them, aged 28, remains hospitalized after suffering a fracture caused by a fall while fleeing his attackers. He has been in Porto for a year and a half and works in construction.

On the same night, Porto’s PSP recorded two other attacks on public roads against Maghrebi immigrants, admitting the spokesperson for that metropolitan command, António Veiga, that the situations could be interconnected. “Now we have to wait for the investigations to unfold”, he highlights.

The episodes are reported this Saturday by Newspaper and were confirmed to the PÚBLICO by an official source from the PSP Porto Metropolitan Command, who provided several details about the events. An official source from that command, contacted this Saturday, considers, however, premature to talk about “racist motivations”. It confirms a climate of tension in the area of ​​Campo 24 de Agosto/Bonfim, where the house targeted by the attack is located, and where since February and until about a week ago, 20 foreign citizens, most of them Maghrebians, were detained, who will essentially be involved in situations of robbery and theft.

The first attack against immigrants occurred in the early hours of Friday and was registered at 0:40 am in Campo 24 de Agosto. Two Algerians complain that a group of five Portuguese people who were traveling in a car stopped next to them and attacked them with baseball bats. The police went to the location and recorded the incident, which states that the victims were taken to Hospital de São João.

A little later, at around 1 am, just a kilometer away, a group of 15 individuals forced their way into a house on Rua do Bonfim, where a group of immigrants, mostly Algerians, lived, and attacked those present with sticks. The attackers then fled on foot.

A third case occurred at 3:15 am, in the Batalha area, where a Moroccan citizen was attacked by a group of men who also stole his cell phone.

Following information about this episode, agents from the Criminal Investigation Division “took steps to intercept the perpetrators of the aforementioned offense”, said the PSP in a statement released this Friday, announcing the arrest of a 26-year-old Portuguese man , commercial and resident in Gondomar, who was seized with an extendable baton and a hat only open around the eyes.

The note explains that, faced with the police presence, the Portuguese man assumed suspicious behavior, which is why he was approached, and it was found that he was carrying the baton, which is a prohibited weapon, and the cell phone stolen shortly before from the Moroccan citizen.

The detainee was transported to the Criminal Investigation Division facilities, where five individuals appeared looking for him and who, due to the various incidents that night, the PSP decided to identify. António Veiga reports that the 26-year-old man is identified for his involvement in other situations of aggression and coercion, also involving national citizens.

Paulo Pimenta/Público

According to Agência Lusa, the PSP informed the Public Ministry of the incident and, given the suspicion of the existence of a hate crime, the matter was passed on to the Judiciary Police.

Regarding the 20 arrests of foreigners that have been recorded since February in the same area, the spokesperson for the Porto Metropolitan Command explained that there are also situations of driving without a license and two illegal occupations of housing. This led the PSP to carry out, on Friday last week, a special crime prevention operation in that area. Veiga emphasizes that the PSP is attentive and has the device on the street to guarantee everyone’s safety.

Government and President of the Republic condemn attacks

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, meanwhile condemned the “racist attacks” and highlighted that racial violence and xenophobia have no place in Portuguese society.

“Upon learning of the racist attacks perpetrated last night in Porto, the President of the Republic underlines the vehement condemnation of racial violence and xenophobia, practices with no place in Portuguese society”, reads a note on the website of the Presidency of the Republic.

The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, has also condemned the attacks, which he classified as “racist attacks”, praised the work of the security forces and expressed solidarity with the victims. Margarida Blasco, Minister of Internal Administration, also stated this afternoon that “this attack does not represent the Portuguese people”. Speaking to journalists, the minister recalled that the immigrants who were the target of these criminal acts “are people who seek our country because it is a safe country”. Margarida Blasco said she was “very upset when she found out what happened”, a situation she considered “so vile”. “And I think that, on behalf of the Government, I can say that tolerance is zero” towards this behavior, he added, as the Prime Minister had already written this morning on the social network X.

SOS Racismo also speaks of “militias” and “planned and properly organized attacks”, having called for a demonstration of solidarity with the victims for this Saturday night in Porto.