Protesters vote for the stay and stay at night in Praça D. João I

Oprotesters for the right to housing that today are concentrated in Praça D. João I, in Porto, voted in popular assembly to stay and stay overnight in the place, where last morning were the target of police cargo.

In a popular assembly, the present voted not only that the housing movement remains on site, but also that they will spend the night in the square tonight, not just the organizers.

About 2,500 people today attended the protest called by the camp organizers, after an early morning in which they were the target of a police charge, resulting in 39 injuries, two of them serious, according to the organization's accounting, and one injured police officer, reported by the PSP.

The movement for housing that has protested in Porto today denounced a police charge this morning, which caused injuries in 39 of the participants, two of whom were in serious condition.

According to the movement, among the wounded is a disabled person and several participants in the concentration were hospitalized.

The participants again installed tents during the night, which were removed by the police, after the mayor of Porto said on Wednesday that it would be “absolutely relentless with any attempt to place tents” in Praça D. João I”.

The movement has six main demands: “below the law of rents; end of evictions; end of purchase of property by vulture funds; more public housing; recovery of vacant properties for housing; rent ceilings”.

In today’s note, the movement “extremely denounces the use of extreme, disproportionate and unjustified force during police intervention in the camp, which remained peaceful from the first moment, without ever inciting violence”, considering the “unacceptable” burden and asking for responsibilities.

The PSP confirmed, however, an injured police officer and the existence of wounded among the demonstrators, without needing how many, attributing the reason for the intervention to “resistance behaviours”.

The mayor of Porto said today that the PSP saw itself “forced” to act, in the face of the protesters’ attitude, and lamented the incident.

On Wednesday, in a popular assembly, people voted to keep the protest and go back to sleep in tents, expressing the group’s desire to “continue growing and not only in Porto”, appealing to other cities, such as what is already called for Lisbon on Saturday.

On Monday, the Municipal Police withdrew about 50 tents that were armed in the square, substantiating the chamber that the camp improperly occupied the public space, causing the protesters to sleep in the open, keeping the protest even without it.