Police officers who hit demonstrators in non-violent and legitimate mobilizations – such as the massive protest last Sunday in Palma, against overpopulation and «turistification» – do so protected by the anonymity of their helmets and badges: they are not people with a face and a name, like citizens, but rather there is a conscious effort to give the police officer who represses citizens an aspect as dehumanized as possible. This is well known, studied, and denounced. The other great instrument of concealment for the repressive police officer is corporatism. This is the foundation for the development of police accounts that, to put it mildly, clash with or contradict reality. That they lie, to put it bluntly. They know they can do it because corporatism, a kind of misunderstood and perverted camaraderie, makes it impossible for a police officer to ever dare to report the bad practices — and whoever says bad practices, says crimes and offenses — of their less exemplary colleagues.The National Police of Palma has produced a report on the events of Sunday evening in which they do the usual: victimize themselves and state that they had to resort to charges to "defend themselves" from "violent demonstrators" who caused "fear". The song of individuals who like to line up as muscular cabinets, armed to the teeth and trained for whatever may come, who claim to feel intimidated and scared to death by defenseless demonstrators who – in the case of Palma – do such fearsome things as sing La Balanguera. It is tiring, above all, because it is a lie. From the police of October 1st to those of Altsasu, including those who have been in charge of repressing pro-Palestine demonstrations with batons, they all claim to feel deep fears when they have to confront the unleashed hordes of violent demonstrators. The reality, repeated over and over again, is that the provocative, aggressive, and – if necessary – violent elements in demonstrations and other citizen protest events are the police officers themselves. This is what happened in Palma, where there were more than twenty injured, including a photojournalist who had to receive six stitches in his head. The police attacks were unjustified. And, above all, intolerable.False police reports and statements – and, when necessary, false declarations before courts by police officers and high-ranking officials – are repeated because the political leaders do nothing about it (they are afraid, these ones). The government delegate in Palma, Alfonso Rodríguez, is asked to resign. He should also present it due to his incompetence in having done the dirty work for the tourism businessmen and the PP and Vox Government chaired by Marga Prohens. They have achieved the objective of tarnishing a demonstration that was as powerful as it was civic, and on top of that, they can blame a socialist government delegate. They probably think they have made a masterstroke, but more or less everyone sees through them (this does not mean that the delegate must resign, of course).
