Bologna awakens wounded after a night of urban warfare following the demonstration demanding truth and justice in the death of Abderrahim Fakir. Clashes, which erupted after a peaceful demonstration, continued late into the night in the city center, just steps from Piazza Maggiore, with a group of activists continuing until past midnight "throwing objects at police officers," trashing the historic center, "throwing down outdoor seating and vandalizing bike-sharing services." At least one municipal car was set ablaze, forcing the firefighters to intervene. Firefighters also rushed to Via Monte Grappa, where a smoke bomb had caught fire in a courtyard.
The evening's death toll was 11 people who required emergency medical care. On-site medical personnel treated four protesters and five police officers. Another officer was taken to Maggiore Hospital and a protester to Sant'Orsola, both with minor injuries.
Tensions erupted after a demonstration demanding clarity on the death of Abderrahim Fakir, the 42-year-old Moroccan man who died on Saturday during a police intervention in the Pilastro neighborhood. According to the Prosecutor's Office's reconstruction, the incident unfolded in less than an hour: the first call to 112 came in at 11:59 a.m., and the ambulance with four volunteers was dispatched at 12:17 p.m. Even before the ambulance arrived, Fakir lashed out at the officers, who, to incapacitate him, pinned him face down after using pepper spray. It's striking that the videos show the volunteers standing still, but this is standard procedure, the Red Cross explains: paramedics can only intervene when the police give the green light . The doctor wasn't there, and at 12:36 p.m., the volunteers, unable to administer medication, requested the dispatch of a medical car, which left Maggiore Hospital at 12:42 p.m. Death was confirmed at 12.53 pm, after resuscitation efforts.
The Prosecutor's Office has acquired the 5-minute and 20-second video showing the scene from above, shot by a resident and already captured yesterday on social media. The bodycam footage of one of the two officers and other cell phone videos taken by people present on Via Svevo will also be added to the case. Residents raised the alarm when the 42-year-old, who had gone to the Pilastro neighborhood to visit relatives, allegedly began screaming and attacking a person who was parking his car in one of the garages on the street. "I'm at Via Italo Svevo 6. There's a non-EU citizen who came running behind the garages, he's screaming and kicking all the garage doors, shouting 'help!' and that they want to kill him," a passerby reported in the call to 112, published by Tg1.
The man on the phone then described Fakir: "Long black pants, dark burgundy shirt, short sleeves," adding: "He's sitting on a staircase now, but he came running." At that point, the police intervened, and then called 911, reporting an ongoing "psychiatric crisis."
It appears that in the hours preceding the attack, the man had been particularly agitated, seemingly in a state of agitation, according to several witnesses who will be interviewed by investigators. Among those to be interviewed is the young man, captured in the video, shirtless, joining the action of the two police officers as they were over Fakir. "We know him; he's a guy who lives here in the neighborhood, originally from the former Yugoslavia," said Antonietta Enacca, a friend of the 42-year-old.
According to other testimonies gathered from residents, it may have been the officers themselves who asked the citizen to help them subdue the Moroccan. In the video, the young man can be seen holding Fakir's legs while he screams, continuing to do so even after the 42-year-old stops moving, assisting the officers as they tie his bare feet with zip ties. He then remains there, while bystanders notice that the man is no longer showing signs of consciousness and remains motionless on the asphalt.
(Unioneonline/D)