“Normalisation of violence is something that should concern us all”
Porto City Council has become the latest to speak out against what it calls the normalisation of violence that is increasingly marking daily life in densely-populated urban areas.
The council was referring specifically to attacks in the city on volunteers from the Homeless Support Centre (CASA) and on a police officer.
“The normalisation of violence is a problem that should concern us all,” Mayor Rui Moreira told an ’emergency’ meeting of the municipality’s executive convened which saw three motions presented – by PSD social democrats, CDU communists and Bloco de Esquerda – regarding recent episodes of violence in the city.
“We need legislation, like measures against racism. We must apply it to those who use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. (to incite hatred and violence). The media should close comment boxes,” the mayor said, giving the example of Público newspaper, which “has started to moderate comment boxes, and rightly so”, in his opinion.
Moreira told the meeting that “public opinion currently reflects certain influences, and this issue matters much more to me than putting police on the streets (…) freedom thrives within clear limits, and we should encourage respectful dialogue while fostering an environment that discourages violence and maintains a civilised tone.”
On Thursday, Público wrote that “two women who are part of teams of volunteers distributing food aid to people experiencing homelessness in Porto said that two men insulted them and shoved and punched them after giving a Nazi salute and blaming the women for the increase in immigrants in the country”.
At today’s emergency meeting, PSD councillor Mariana Ferreira Macedo said: “we must acknowledge the new social contexts” of the city – reinforcing the message that associations that support vulnerable people must know that “they are not alone and can count on the city council”.
“We must reaffirm that Porto is a city of tolerance where hate speech has no place, and reinforce a message of strength so that these people continue working, stay motivated and keep helping homeless people,” she said.
Also speaking for the CDU, Vítor Vieira wanted to “affirm his opposition and total solidarity with the CASA association and its volunteers,” as well as “urge the government to take appropriate measures to ensure that acts of hatred of this nature do not occur again.”
“We support the mayor’s initiative to call an emergency meeting,” he added.
Sérgio Aires (Bloco de Esquerda) suggested an urgent meeting of the Homeless Planning and Intervention Unit (NPISA) should be called, noting that right wing/ nationalist attacks are becoming much too commonplace: last week saw the attack on the actor in Lisbon, and days later there was another incident in Guimarães.
“We are living in very unusual times regarding unexpected incidents,” deputy mayor Filipe Araújo acknowledged.
Joining the motions presented, Councillor Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro (PS) called for “broader reflection on promoting respectful dialogue”.
“We observe this in public spaces, on social media and even in parliament. Let it be clear that public authorities of the city of Porto will always be at the forefront in promoting respectful dialogue,” he said.
Last Thursday, PSP police revealed that a 24-year-old man had been arrested the night before for punching a police officer when the officer asked him for identification after receiving an alert that two women, aged 45 and 50, who had complained of being “verbally abused and assaulted” in Largo da Lapa.
Authorities took the young man into custody and ordered him to report weekly to local police. At the same time, they identified another person involved, a 27-year-old man.
Over the weekend, there were protests in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra against violence being meted out by members of far right groups.
Source: Lusa
