After they had stopped the Gambian citizen, the two were quickly encircled by a whole group of immigrants demanding that he be set free. Not only were the officers encircled, but subsequently attacked.
On the evening of October 5, according to Italian media, dozens of asylum seekers turned violent to set free the 26 year-old Gambian Omar Jallow. It was not Jallow’s first encounter with the law. He had already been convicted for a number of crimes.
The assault happened right at the large migrant center in the city, the third most populous one in Italy after the officers had chased down the offender in a patrol car, deep in the migrant ghetto.
“There were 50 of them, against the two of us. Nonetheless, we managed to ultimately handcuff him,” the officers told Italian daily Corriere della Sera. The two officers, who serve in the traffic control department, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The local secretary for the autonomous police labor union, Giuseppe Vigilante, explained what had happened.
The Gambian, driving a car, had accelerated instead of pulling over, trying to hit the policemen. In the chase, the driver attempted to push the two into a ditch.
The suspect then abandoned his car not far from the migrant centre as he tried to run away, prompting them to chase him on foot. Other immigrants tried to stop the chase, encircled the two and “punched and kicked us, threw stones and bottles at us”. The policemen were both injured, with one suffering from a serious broken nasal septum.
“We were fortunate to pass a walkie-talkie signal to call for backup. After four other patrol cars arrived the assailants fled the scene.”
The African assaillant is currently being held in a detention center and has been charged with inflicting bodily harm and resisting arrest.
“The migration center Borgo Mezanone has virtually turned into a ghetto, some sort of a town in a town. It was supposed to house 200 people, but there are over 600 people there now. On top of it, the location where the airport at some point was, is full of barracks, housing thousands of immigrants. There are car thieves, drug dealers and etc among the locals. It is increasingly difficult for us to get into those districts, taking into account the means that we have at out disposal, ” Vigilante explained.
“If something opposite had taken place, everyone would publicly point to racism; while these incidents do not attract much attention,” Francesco Pulli, national secretary for the autonomous police trade union, noted.
“The idea that they will get away with it push offenders to act like this. This is wrong. Anyone breaching the law must take responsibility. We must stand on guard for our policemen’s lives and health, ” he concluded.