Humanely, police-wise, and politically, it is understood that the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, wished to deny that the alleged perpetrators of the Manresa homicide are unaccompanied minors. Humanely, to prevent a falsehood from spreading. Police-wise, because many people forget – or do not know – that at the end of last year, the Ministry of the Interior began to include the nationality of detainees in its official crime statistics, precisely for transparency. And politically, because the falsehood is of interest to those who live electorally off the stigma against immigrants.
However, by denying it with the statement "they are Catalans," the minister contributes to the debate, as if the most important thing were where the alleged murderers came from, and distracts from the only two things that should matter to us. One immediate: respect for the memory of the murdered person and their family. And one structural: that everyone can walk the streets of our country with the peace of mind that they will not be stabbed, and this is the responsibility of the Mossos.
We all know that poverty rates in certain neighborhoods or streets are the factor that most leads young boys, in particular, to commit crimes. It is a fact that, in violent crimes or street robberies, the percentage of detainees of foreign origin tends to be higher. And since the results of social policies are slow by definition, police responses must be swift. It cannot be that in such an important capital as Manresa, there are neighbors who tell the cameras that they no longer dare to go out on the street after nine in the evening. This is the real problem. And if the police are not on top of it effectively, the parties of hate gain ground.
