Gun use? “Using has to be justified and written,” MAI says

O minister of Internal Affairs today assured that the use of weapons by police “must be justified” when confronted with the fact that a civilian agent used one in the Porto Camp.

“ I have heard about this situation, I have no concrete information, but it is of course in the law that the use of any weapon must be justified and must be written, it must be formalized,” Luís Neves told journalists in Marinha Grande (Leiria).

The minister stated that he did not have an answer at the moment, “but, of course, the bodies themselves will go looking for information to clarify”.

Virtually at the same time, from 04:30 today, the Public Security Police (PSP) advanced on the protesters concentrated in the camps in Lisbon and Porto to demobilize, removing tents and detaining 13 people, with several wounded, including police.

In Lisbon, just minutes after the start of the police load of PSP, with petards and batonadas, Praça D. Pedro V was empty. The protesters were kicked out by the various accesses to Rossio.

In Porto, PSP destroyed the camp set up in Praça D. João I. The protesters resisted, shouting that their action was peaceful as the police force advanced, using batons and dogs, pushing them to Dr. Magellan Street Lemos.

In a statement issued today, the National Directorate of PSP said that in Porto there were “situations of resistance and aggression against police”.

In this city, on Avenida dos Aliados, “a team made up of four police officers was monitoring the movements and movements of the protesters, and was detected by a group of these, who assaulted three of the police”.

“ Faced with this situation, one of the police made passive appeal of the firearm as a means of deterrence ", explained the statement.

PSP spokesperson, Sérgio Soares, said that one of the policemen from the undercover unit removed the firearm when the protesters approached.

Also in a statement, the Porto Camp contested the intervention of the four undercover agents, referring that, about 05:15, the protesters gathered in the Allies, including to count wounded and detained, “are confronted with a group of four civilians seeking to focus on protesters alone and vulnerable, surrounding them and trying to kidnap them”.

After being confronted, these people, PSP agents undercover, “revealed themselves violent, armed and willing to resort to intimidation with firearms, with an armed bullet in the chamber, pointed at the head of protesters”, denounced.