Rioting in several districts around the city erupted when a Portuguese police officer shot and killed a Cape Verdean man.
Portugal’s capital experienced a second night of riots into the early hours of Wednesday morning, triggered by the death of Odair Moniz, a Cape Verdean man who was shot and killed by a police officer late on Sunday night.
Unrest returned to areas including Amadora near Lisbon, with bins and even buses set on fire. “Today, regrettably, we once again witnessed situations of disorder within the Zambujal neighbourhood … with the theft of a Carris bus that was subsequently set on fire,” Portugal’s police force (PSP) said in a statement.
Explaining that it had sent additional police to the area, the PSP added that it had made an arrest “for possession of combustible material, indicated it would be used to start a fire”. Representatives from the PSP described the unrest as a “serious episode of urban violence”.
In addition to increased policing Zambujal, the force also sent reinforcements to various locations nearby, including so-called “Sensitive Urban Zones”.
In the early hours of the morning, scenes escalated with an attempt to set fire to a petrol station in Amadora. The incident did not lead to an explosion.
During the night, riots were also reported in the municipality of Oeiras, where shots were fired and another bus was set on fire, as well as a smaller vehicle and several bins.
In Sintra, a projectile was thrown at the police station in Casal de Cambra without causing any damage. In nearby Damaia there were disturbances in several streets. Rioters threw firecrackers and stones onto the public highway and set alight several bins.
In another statement, the PSP said that it “repudiates and will not tolerate acts of disorder and destruction practised by criminal groups intent on defying the authority of the state and disturbing the security of the community”.
Three arrested and four injured
According to the latest police reports, three people have been arrested for the disturbance. Two police officers were injured in the municipalities of Amadora and Oeiras “as a result of stone-throwing, both of whom required hospital treatment and one of whom went on sick leave”.
Two passengers on one of the buses that was set on fire were stabbed, “allegedly by the individuals who stole and set fire to the vehicle”, the PSP said. They are both said to be in a stable condition.
Speaking to journalists, the Minister of Internal Affairs described the events as “unacceptable disturbances” that prevent “communities going about their normal lives”. Margarida Blasco added that the Security Information Service had held and emergency meeting in response to the unrest, and was in “permanent contact” with security forces, especially the PSP.
The minister confirmed that three people had been arrested following the riots and assured the public that the government ” will do everything we can to bring all those who took part in these riots to justice.”
In a statement, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) said that the minister had ordered an enquiry “as a matter of urgency” to “ascertain the circumstances in which the events involving Public Security Police officers during a police operation took place”.
The death of Odair Moniz
The PSP explained that police officers had “intercepted an individual who had been fleeing from the police” in the Alto neighbourhood of Cova da Moura shortly before 6 am on Monday morning.
The police said that when the officers “approached the suspect, he resisted arrest and tried to assault them with a weapon”, adding that “one of the police officers, having exhausted other means and efforts”, used a firearm and shot the suspect, “in circumstances to be investigated in a criminal and disciplinary enquiry”.
The PSP also said that “the suspect was promptly assisted at the scene and transported to São Francisco Xavier Hospital,” but ended up dying.
This Wednesday, in a new communication, the PSP said it “regretted the death,” of Moniz, emphasising that it “is being investigated by the judicial authorities”.
The police also reiterated “a word of solidarity to our two police officers involved in the incident, as well as to all the police officers involved in restoring and maintaining public order in the municipality of Amadora”.
The Polícia Judiciária, Portugal’s national criminal investigation police agency, has since announced that it has put the officer who shot the Moniz under investigation.
‘Security and public order are democratic values’
Portugal’s President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, also commented on the episodes of violence in the Lisbon metropolitan area. In a note published on the presidency’s website, Rebelo de Sousa announced that he has been “closely monitoring the events of the last 48 hours, and was in contact with the government and the mayors of Amadora and Oeiras”.
In the note, the president highlighted three points that he “considers essential,” emphasising that “security and public order are democratic values whose preservation must be guaranteed, particularly through the role of the security forces”.
The president continued by saying “this guarantee must respect the principles of the democratic rule of law, including the rights, freedoms and guarantees of citizens, as well as enforcing their duties”.
Rebelo de Sousa concluded that Portuguese society, “despite the social, economic and cultural problems and inequalities that still plague it, is a generally peaceful society, and wants to remain so, without instability or, much less, violence”.
On Tuesday, dozens of people gathered outside the flat where Moniz lived in the Zambujal neighbourhood of Amadora to pay tribute. The 43-year-old owned and ran a local café and was known to everyone in the neighbourhood by the nickname “Dá”.
The vigil and protest was called by an association of local residents. “People were incredulous,” Gilberto Pinto, president of the neighbourhood residents’ association called, told Portugal’s Lusa news agency.
Speaking to the media, residents emphasised Odair’s personality and refused to believe the PSP’s version of events surrounding Moniz’s death.
Gilberto Pinto warned authorities that local anger could spread. “This will snowball, a feeling of injustice has taken hold.”
