"Enough, help me!" — Moroccan man dies after violent police restraint in Bologna

A 40-year-old Moroccan man, Abderrahim Fakir, died on Sunday in the Pilastro district of Bologna, Italy, after police pinned him to the ground during his arrest. The incident, caught on video, immediately drew comparisons in the media to the death of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis six years ago.

According to Italian media, a police patrol arrived at the scene after local residents called to complain that an intoxicated man was causing a disturbance and damaging parked cars. When officers arrived, Fakir began punching the police car. In response, officers used pepper spray and bound his hands with tape.

In the video, the man can be heard shouting, "Help, enough, that's enough!" Despite this, officers continued to hold him down on the ground, assisted by another man in plain clothes — reportedly a local resident — who held Fakir's ankles. Two paramedics were nearby but did not intervene. Within minutes, the man stopped shouting — it later emerged that he had died.

According to a local newspaper, Fakir had lived in Italy for a long time and ran a cleaning company; he reportedly had unspecified prior run-ins with police. His relatives have accused the police of killing him. They say he suffered from asthma with recurring attacks. "He was calling for help, but no one listened. We are in Italy — this should never happen here," his brother said. "I want justice. I won't rest until he is avenged. They tied him up and killed him. There are witnesses," Fakir's sister added.

An autopsy is expected to determine the exact cause of death. The officers involved in the arrest have already handed over footage from their body cameras, which also captured the incident, to judicial authorities.

Fakir's death has sparked a political outcry in Italy. The opposition and trade unions have demanded a thorough and transparent investigation, saying "no ambiguity should remain." Democratic Party senator Sandra Zampa stressed: "Security must never be separated from respect for human dignity and life."

The ruling League party, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, said the officers had acted at the request of outraged citizens and were simply doing their duty. "The death of a person is always a tragedy, so it is necessary to establish carefully and without bias what happened. Hands off the police!" the party said in a statement.

The situation has drawn comparisons to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, who was allegedly accused of paying with a counterfeit $20 bill in a store. Police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck and upper back for more than nine minutes, even as Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe. Floyd's death sparked mass protests against racism and police violence around the world, and Chauvin was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz