When members of the Policía Local in Madrid made threats against the Mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, on a chat forum, nobody suspected how things would deteriorate further.
The comments by these policemen range from turning flamethrowers on immigrants to praising Hitler as a man who knew how get things done. But that’s just half of it.
Only one workers union has spoken out against these policemen, the CCOO, and now its spokesman is receiving death threats. The more specialised police unions are defending these policemen and accuse the CCOO of besmirching the good name of the municipal police.
All this came to light when a policeman on the force approached the CCOO and alerted them to the content of the a police whatsapp group, to which he belonged.
The reaction of the, what only can be described Neo-Nazis in the group, was to launch death threats against the ‘snitch.’ Some of the comments were, “I know bad people who know bad people who can get the job done,” when discussing how to get back at the lone policeman.
The Municipal Police Union, instead of condemning the culprits published a statement saying: We know that the whistle blower is the delegate for the CCOO,” and accuse him of baiting the group users to obtain the whatsapp responses. Futhermore they say the comments were taken out of context.
Yet another specialised police union (CPPM) laims that the culprits Freedom of Speech had been infringed and in an internal memo say that “making public such situations is not a way of expressing ideas or opinion.” In other words, they criticise the disclosure rather than the material disclosed.
Yet another police union (APMU) consider the comments to be “personal and private” and within their author’s sphere of Freedom of Speech. This union at least pointed out that they did not agree with the comments.
Editorial comment: on the 20th of November, the anniversary of Franco’s death, fascist movements in all their regalia marched through the central streets of Madrid, escorted by the police. This, it appears is OK, as far as the Government is concerned, but can you imagine such a rally taking place in Berlin with Neo-Nazis parading along main thoroughfares, cutting the traffick flow, under the benevolent escort of the police?
Yet the conservative Government recently brought about the imprisonment of a blogger for having made a joke about the death of Franco’s Prime Minister, Carrera Blanco, over forty years ago. The Partido Popular has still not rid itself of its extreme right-wing leanings.
(News: Madrid, Spain)