Anti-racism group condemns Cova da Moura shooting
SOS Racismo, one of Portugal’s leading anti-racism campaign groups, has condemned the fatal shooting by PSP police of father-of-two Odair Moniz in Cova da Moura in the early hours of Monday morning, describing the incident as “another in the long list of deaths” at the hands of the police force.
“Odair Moniz joins the long list of black people killed at the hands of the public security police (and) his death takes place in a political context of exacerbated hate speech and stigmatising securitarianism directed at black communities,” said the group in a statement that questions the PSP’s explanation of the incident.
In a statement, the PSP said Moniz had been resisting arrest and ‘assaulted officers with a bladed weapon’.
“How can someone who has crashed in a getaway car be in a position to attack armed officers?” queries SOS Racismo. “According to the PSP, since the attempt was made to assault the police with a bladed weapon, is it to be assumed that there was actual proximity to the officer who shot him? If so, why didn’t he shoot the victim in the lower part of the body to immobilise him, instead of in the armpit?”
According to the association, “in all the cases of police brutality that have resulted in the deaths of black, racialised citizens, the PSP has never been convincing about the conditions and reasons for these deaths.”
SOS Racismo also states that it believes that the PSP is “undeniably infiltrated by the racist far right” and that “the deaths of black people at the hands of police officers raise the greatest doubts and concerns about the real motivations behind the interventions.”
To this end, the association is calling for an inquiry to ascertain “all the responsibilities of the officers involved in this murder, including those in the chain of command itself” and, while this process is ongoing, “we demand their immediate suspension from duty.”
Minister of internal administration Margarida Blasco has already ordered the Inspectorate-General of Internal Administration to open an enquiry “as a matter of urgency”, while the PSP is conducting its own internal inquiry in which it will question the police officers involved, and witnesses.
According to the force, PSP officers ordered Moniz to stop in the early hours of yesterday while he was driving his car following a late night party. He fled into the Cova da Moura neighbourhood, before spinning out of control and crashing into various parked vehicles.
According to the PSP, Moniz’s pursuers approached him, and he “resisted arrest and tried to assault them with a bladed weapon”.
After being shot, Moniz, 43, “was assisted at the scene and transported to Lisbon’s São Francisco Xavier Hospital, where he died at 6.20 am”, writes Lusa.
There have been conflicting reports on the number of gunshots, and on Moniz´s injuries.
Suffice it to say that the incident has sparked further unrest in a neighbourhood already marked by deep suspicion when it comes to ‘agents of authority’. Last night, police were called after vehicles and rubbish bins were set alight as locals reacted to this latest loss of life.
Source material: LUSA/ Correio da Manhã
