Nearly 200 residents of Torrejón de Ardoz, near Madrid, gathered for a sit-in on Saturday, June 21, at Plaza de España, chanting slogans such as «Moroccan Lives Matter» and «Fascists Out!» The protest was sparked by the killing of a Moroccan man by a municipal police officer the previous Tuesday. Abderrahim, 35, died in an incident that drew chilling comparisons to the murder of African-American George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. Footage published by Spanish media shows the officer kneeling on Abderrahim's neck while ignoring pleas from a bystander urging him to «let the young man breathe a little; the police cannot take justice into their own hands». Anti-racist organizations denounced the killing at Saturday's demonstration, calling it part of a «systemic pattern of persecution against migrants». Abderrahim had lived in Torrejón de Ardoz for nearly 17 years. The officer involved was arrested on Tuesday and charged with involuntary manslaughter, but was released on bail Thursday. According to El País, the investigating judge ruled there was no risk of flight, reoffending, or tampering with evidence.
