First, the need to wait. Then the anger grew. For two long hours, an operation by the health services and the Spanish police had Mame Mbaye, a young Senegalese woman, in a tent. He had been living in Madrid for 14 years and died on Thursday in the Lavapiés neighborhood.

Two hours of no information waiting for news with a dozen Mbaye members. And the worst news came. The nets gave it up. No police spokesperson or municipal spokesperson explained why Mbaye died that afternoon in the center of Madrid.

After the confirmation, the anger exploded. For months the group of manteros and lateros has denounced the harassment and bureaucratic repression of the police, clearly pointing to the Municipal Police of Madrid. On Thursday, March 15, Mbaye died, witnesses say, after a persecution. They had gone to Brussels to denounce that what happened on Thursday could happen.

After a hard wait, after realizing that no one was going to explain, the cries of justice and “murderers” took over the steep streets of Lavapiés. The exit of the funeral home van and ambulance was the beginning of the confrontation. The narrow streets became rat holes.

The baton and shield were scattered by 300 people in the area. Objects began to fly and containers began to cross the streets. From there, small barricades, raised bricks or cobblestones, riots, nervousness and irresistible rage.

The day after Mame Mbaye’s death, Lavapiés wakes up with burnt containers and broken windows of some banks. Police say six people were arrested on the night of the rage. Among them a minor. Police say a dozen officers were injured. Other people also ended the night wounded, but it is not known how many they are or their anguish, since they were not attended by the health services and have not deserved headlines in the press or an official version.

The next day begins with the smell of burnt plastic in search of the truth. Members and friends have witnesses to prove that Mbaye was persecuted. The first version of the local police and some testimonies on social networks said that he had not been harassed. Other sources of the Police, in this case the Spanish Police admit that he was persecuted. The Municipal Government of Ahora Madrid has a great responsibility: to reach the end of the investigation of the death of a neighbor.

The trade union of manteros in Barcelona writes: “Madrid City Council says they will launch a quick investigation. They have little to investigate. They say that justice will be done. How can we trust their justice? It is a justice that protects discriminatory laws such as the Aliens Act, which punishes people, refugees and immigrants to live without being able to do their normal jobs, marginalizing them socially, prohibiting family reunification, denying shelter and legitimate rights.”

Friday, March 16, wakes up with sadness and anger. The collective of Mantero and Lateros, which now denounces that the persecution against them has been increasing for two years, has called a tribute in favor of Mbaye. As in the others, truth, justice and reparation are the only horizon so that the death of a neighbor of Madrid does not pass, without the city doing anything to prevent it.

This chronicle has been published by El Salto and we have brought it to LUZ thanks to the license CC-by-sa. Translation in: Lander to Blackboard.