Them Now Sport: the ultra group that the Prosecutor's Office is asking to be investigated in Catalonia

BarcelonaThe events in Torre Pacheco This summer marked a turning point in the far-right's strategy against immigration. The attack suffered by a local resident at the hands of three men of foreign origin was exploited by extremist groups to call for "hunting immigrants" in the Murcian town. One of them was Deport Them NowA neo-Nazi group led by a young man from Mataró, who is currently in pretrial detention for inciting the riots, was involved in the protests. This wasn't the first time this individual had been implicated in far-right demonstrations. Previously, he had participated in a demonstration, also in Mataró, organized by Vox, where he was seen dressed in military clothing and giving the fascist salute. This led the Comuns party to suspect possible connections between this group and the party, and its presence in Catalonia. Consequently, they reported both this demonstration and several attacks against people of North African origin in the province of Barcelona in recent months to the Public Prosecutor's Office, requesting an investigation into whether Deport Them Now was also involved. Now, the Public Prosecutor's Office has agreed with them. In a document consulted by ARA, the Public Prosecutor's Office supports investigating these events as a suspected hate crime and illegal association. However, he also points out that a court in Mataró has already opened proceedings following the demonstration in the city, where signs were seen with the messages "Spaniards are superior" and "Immigration deportation." It will be within the framework of this investigation, the prosecutor emphasizes, that it will be necessary to clarify whether the other two attacks reported by the Comuns were instigated or organized by Deport Them Now. One is the assault on a kebab shop in Sabadell in July, and The other was the fire at a mosque in PieraComuns has also denounced the attack suffered by a youth center in Vallirana this summer at the hands of far-right groups.

"A serious threat to society"

At a press conference, Andrés García Berrio, a member of parliament for the Comuns party, announced that they have also joined the case as a private prosecutor in the Mataró court. One of the points they will seek to clarify is the relationship between Deport Them Now and Vox in Catalonia. The leader of the far-right group was seen talking with a Vox councilor at the Mataró demonstration under judicial scrutiny, but Berrio acknowledged that it is up to the courts to determine if there are "direct connections between specific organizations and individuals," beyond simply coinciding in protests or sharing messages on social media. Noe Ayguasenosa, from the Comuns party in Mataró, accused Vox of trying to incite violence in Mataró neighborhoods like Cerdanyola and warned them that spreading rhetoric linking immigration and insecurity "has consequences" for social cohesion.

"The violent far right is a serious threat to our society. We need to know how many people have been arrested in connection with the Piera and Sabadell cases," Berrio continued. This request will be taken to Parliament to obtain more details about any police operations that may have been launched against these groups. Following the arrest of the leader of Deport Them Now, the Civil Guard shut down the Telegram groups that his supporters used to mobilize and spread hate messages against immigrants. The alleged instigator of the riots in Torre Pacheco lived in Mataró and is 28 years old. She had worked at a juvenile justice center in Barcelona and a few months earlier he had obtained the authorization to work as a private bodyguard and had unsuccessfully applied for the positions of administrative labor technician for the Mas d'Enric penitentiary center in Tarragona.