Porto, June 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The Porto City Council condemned on Monday attacks on volunteers from the Homeless Support Centre (CASA) and on a police officer last Wednesday, affirming its commitment to inclusivity and mutual respect.
‘The normalisation of violence is a problem that should concern us all,’ said the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, before the agenda of the executive meeting in which the assembly unanimously approved three motions - PSD, CDU and BE - regarding the episodes of violence that occurred last week.
The independent mayor took the opportunity to say that problems related to hate speech and acts associated with racism and xenophobia “must be dealt with at the root.”
“We need legislation like the measures against racism. We must apply it to those who use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. The media should close comment boxes,” he added.
Rui Moreira gave the example of the Público newspaper, which “has started to moderate comment boxes, and rightly so,” he said.
“Public opinion currently reflects certain influences, and this issue matters much more to me than putting police on the streets,” he added, considering that “freedom thrives within clear limits, and we should encourage respectful dialogue while fostering an environment that discourages violence and maintains a civilised tone.”
On Thursday, the Público newspaper wrote that “two women who are part of teams of volunteers distributing food aid to people experiencing homelessness in Porto said that two men insulted them and shoved and punched them after giving the Nazi salute and blaming them for the increase in immigrants in the country”.
On the same day, the Porto City Council condemned the attacks and announced a meeting to discuss the issue.
Today, Mariana Ferreira Macedo (PSD) pointed out that “we must acknowledge the new social contexts”, reinforcing the message that associations that support vulnerable people must know that “they are not alone and can count on the city council”.
“We must reaffirm that Porto is a city of tolerance where hate speech has no place, and reinforce a message of strength so that these people continue working, stay motivated and keep helping homeless people,” said the Social Democrat councillor.
Also speaking for the CDU, Vítor Vieira wanted to “affirm his opposition and total solidarity with the CASA association and its volunteers,” as well as “urge the Government to take appropriate measures to ensure that acts of hatred of this nature do not occur again.”
“We support the mayor's initiative to call an emergency meeting,” he concluded.
Sérgio Aires (BE) suggested an urgent meeting of the Homeless Planning and Intervention Unit (NPISA), noting that these situations have a history, recalling the recent attack on an actor in Lisbon, as well as a case that allegedly occurred on Saturday in Guimarães, which he said required “considerable effort to resolve”.
“We must strengthen measures to raise awareness of human rights (...). We should keep police separate from street teams, because their presence undermines the logic of proximity,” he stressed.
In this regard, the deputy mayor, Filipe Araújo, said that someone had already raised the idea of using panic buttons to communicate directly with the police.
“We are living in very unusual times regarding unexpected incidents,” said Filipe Araújo.
Finally, joining the motions presented, Councillor Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro (PS) called for “broader reflection on promoting respectful dialogue”.
“We observe this in public spaces, on social media and even in parliament. Let it be clear that the public authorities of the city of Porto will always be at the forefront in promoting respectful dialogue,” he said.
On Thursday, the PSP revealed that on Wednesday night, it had arrested a 24-year-old man for punching a police officer when the officer asked him for identification after receiving an alert that two women, aged 45 and 50, were being “verbally abused and assaulted” in Largo da Lapa.
The authorities took him into custody and ordered him to report weekly to the local police. At the same time, they identified the other person involved, a 27-year-old man, at the scene, according to the statement from the Porto Metropolitan Command.
PFT/ADB // ADB.
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