OKdiario Accuses Police of Negligence in Ferraz Protests

OKdiario Points to UIP Negligence at Ferraz

Was the UIP's conduct during the Ferraz protests negligent, or is there more? OKdiario was the first outlet to openly accuse officers not just of negligence, but of implying deliberate misconduct. The media claims the Police Intervention Unit acted based on political criteria, as revealed by an internal anti-riot document on the use of force. The discussion has moved to forums, mixing analysis of police actions with comparisons to the October 1st referendum and demands for accountability.

The Document Revealing Political Criteria Within the UIP

An internal document from the anti-riot unit, circulated by Vozpópuli, reveals that the use of force in their interventions is governed by political criteria. According to this information, some agents with a minimum of shame are already saying that operations are designed and executed trinc guidelines that go beyond strictly operational matters. The accusation is significant: it implies that the action at Ferraz was not only negligent but intentional. In other words, it was not a miscalculation, but a deliberate act.

The police response at Ferraz included tear gas, baton strikes, and forming cages to trap protesters without giving them an exit. Some argue that this conduct contrasts with the events of October 1st (2017), when the police held their ground while being pelted with stones and bricks. The difference, according to this analysis, is that now the police actively attack protesters, using infiltrators who provoke incidents and then charge in response.

What Peine at Ferraz According to Critics of Police Conduct?

Critics of the police action claim that in Ferraz, young people, children, and the elderly were gassed and beaten with total impunity. It is argued that these actions are not only ordered by leadership, but that some agents would like to raise their salaries by acting incivil. Indignation extends to the perception that the police have become the regime's police, and that little remains of the Guardia Civil (Civil Guard).

In contrast, others defend that protesting peacefully is one thing, but obstructing authorities from doing their job is another. It is argued that there was disobedience to authority during the October 1st referendum, similar to idiots blocking authorities in a squatted building: it is evident they will receive blows, some justified and others not. Independentist leaders knew this and used protesters as expendable instruments.

Comparison with October 1st and the Erosion of the National Police

The comparison with October 1st is recurrent. One sector argues that in 2017, protesters threw rains of stones and bricks at the police, and the police endured. In 2023, however, the police are seen throwing gas, striking with batons, making cages, and advancing. If the difference is not seen, it is argued, it is because one does not want to see it. Others respond that the repression during October 1st was so false that injured parties had to be invented, and that the police are scum, but they only fully engage against workers.

Some claim the police are being destabilized so many resign, creating security gaps. The true right wing, which always supported them, is becoming disaffected with the National Police. It may seem insignificant, but in the long term it has consequences. When one stops voting for the PP (People's Party), it is for good.

What Is Demanded of the UIP Regarding Ferraz?

There are calls to exclude the UIP, dissolve the National Police, and replace it with something else, staffed by people who do not find backpacks out of nowhere or send infiltrators to provoke altercations. It is recalled that some commanders were in charge during the kale borroka (street violence) in the Basque Country and Navarre when Molotov cocktails were thrown. The demand for accountability mixes with denunciations that the press is starting to wake up: a journalist from El Mundo and another from El Español were detained.

The discussion has also turned into an analysis of the use of force. It is argued that extendable steel batons can easily break human bones, and that the Spanish police now use them, even when dressed in plain clothes. According to this current view, what works best for the police are female infiltrators: male police officers have been identified and expelled, but no women, because there is no courage to mess with a woman.

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Ultimately, the question is not whether the UIP exceeded its limits at Ferraz, but whether anyone is willing to bear the political cost of saying so. OKdiario has said it. For now, everyone else looks the other way.