Samuel's murder creates "maximum concern" in the LGTBI collective
The alert comes after an increase in physical assaults in recent weeks
Barcelona"Samuel is not dead. Samuel has been killed". This is one of the most repeated messages in the last hours, as well as "Justice for Samuel". On Saturday morning Samuel, 24 years old, was beaten to death outside a discotheque in A Coruña, Galicia. His death has shocked the LGTBI collective because witnesses explain that the group that assaulted Samuel to death called him a "faggot". The murder has created "maximum concern" in the LGTBI collective of Catalonia, which in recent weeks had already warned of an increase in physical attacks. The last one has been known a few hours ago: the Mossos d'Esquadra investigate the aggression to a young man in Sant Cugat del Vallès, who was left unconscious, while they also shouted "faggot" at him.
Investigators from the National Police in A Coruña have not yet made any arrests in the wake of Samuel's death. The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has announced that "many people who were around" the place where the murder took place have been identified, although he has denied that there are people in custody, contrary to what had transpired on Sunday. "No hypothesis is excluded, neither hate crime nor any other", added Marlaska, who did not want to anticipate that the crime was motivated by the fact that the victim was gay. The investigators have assured that the beating would have started by the use of a mobile, because, a few minutes before, Samuel was with a friend making a video call that, according to the police, would have been able to cause confusion to the group of young people who attacked him.
But the President of the Observatory Against Homophobia, Eugeni Rodriguez, sees it as "indecent" to question the motivation. "How can it be that we believe that he was killed for a motive other than for being a faggot?" he asks. Rodriguez warns that "homophobia kills", after it has been found "more intensity" in attacks against LGTBI people in Catalonia. The alarm was triggered, above all, at the end of May by a homophobic attack on the Somorrostro beach in Barcelona, where five men beat up two gay male couples. The Mossos showed concern about the "excessive" violence: one of the victims suffered a fractured jaw, lost several teeth and had to undergo surgery.
A spiral of violence that has not stopped. And so Born Digital has announced that on June 26th at dawn, during the festival of Sant Cugat, a group of young people assaulted a boy until he lost consciousness also calling him a "faggot". Mossos sources have explained to ARA that the beating happened after the attackers asked the victim for his cell phone and tobacco. Investigators have not yet identified the perpetrators. "They cannot leave us alone. These behaviors have to be prevented and policies have to be made that so far have not yielded results", Rodriguez demands. To express this unease, several cities have called rallies of rejection for the murder of Samuel.
The mobilization of this Monday in Barcelona has gathered hundreds of people who have filled several streets of the superblock of Sant Antoni. The crowd of people, who have demonstrated in a festive and vindictive atmosphere, has exhibited LGTBI flags and one of the chants has been: "Fascists out of our neighborhoods", after some graffiti with the word "farce" have appeared in the LGTBI center of the city.
"Violent" sector of society
"We have a responsibility not to tolerate violent behaviour and stereotypes. We have to be aware that they are not isolated and that there are structural reasons", warns Gracia Trujillo, professor of sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid. According to Trujillo, "a violent sector" of society is "beating" those it considers "subordinate". "Not only LGTBI people. Also to the murdered women, racist aggressions, the criminalization of immigration.... It is a violence with the same reasons", he assures. As for the increase in aggressions in recent weeks, Trujillo says that the debate of the LGTBI law - better known as the trans law - with the celebration of Pride in many cities, have made "hate speech more visible and more present".
