The National Police are investigating the incident involving a plainclothes officer during the Palestinian protest in Barcelona.

BarcelonaA plainclothes National Police officer working during the mass protest against the Palestinian genocide this Saturday in Barcelona was held hostage by a group of protesters. The incident began when the officer attempted to arrest an activist who was spray-painting the Banco Santander headquarters on Passeig de Gràcia, next to Plaça Catalunya. The officer ended up lying on the ground with facial injuries, and the police force will refer the case to a court.

According to sources with access to the investigation consulted by ARA, the officer introduced himself as a police officer and demanded that the graffiti activist identify himself. It was then that a group of people began beating him. Some witnesses suggest that the officer drew his weapon when he was trapped, although sources from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), who responded to the scene following the incident, maintain that the officer did not draw his weapon but that the protesters saw that he was carrying a holstered one, which raised alarm. In a video posted on social media, the agent is seen outside the bank while a person shouts: "That green guy has a gun!"

At the time, the officer was alone, without a partner, although they usually work in pairs, and the plainclothes Mossos d'Esquadra officers who were in the area were "his saving grace," according to sources with access to the investigation. The Mossos d'Esquadra officers protected the police officer at the entrance to the Bershka store next to Banco Santander. Under the gaze of dozens of protesters, four Mossos d'Esquadra officers protected him until he was able to take refuge inside the store.