Luís Neves condemns the attack on the March for Life and reinforces the fight against extremism

The Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves, reacted to the attack against the March for Life, which took place this Saturday, in front of the Assembly of the Republic, ensuring that “We do not tolerate any form of violent extremism and will continue to act firmly to prevent and combat it, guaranteeing security and defending democratic values”. At issue is the arrest of a 39-year-old man, who launched a molotov cocktail in the direction of protesters against abortion and euthanasia, including children and babies.

Luís Neves also highlighted the “prompt intervention of the PSP”, which detained the person responsible for the attack and identified three other members of “a group allegedly with an anarchist connotation”who had fled the scene as a result of the attack.

According to a statement from the PSP, the suspect approached the area where around 500 participants in the March for Life were, around 5:50 pm this Saturday, throwing an improvised incendiary device, which contained gasoline.

“The artifact ended up colliding with the ground, next to a group of protesters, and did not explode at the moment of impact, a circumstance that avoided potentially more serious consequences, although it generated a climate of alarm and disturbance at the site”, reads the statement, highlighting that some people were hit by the flammable liquidhaving left his clothes “impregnated with a substance that had a strong gasoline odor”.

The suspect responsible for the attack will be presented to a judge this Monday, for the application of coercive measures, having been taken to police facilities on Saturday. The PSP collected the glass bottle with flammable liquid and textile material that served as an improvised incendiary device.

The attack was denounced in videos shared on social media by participants in the March for Life and by some politicians, such as Chega’s deputy, Rita Matias. For your part, the parliamentary leader of the CDS-PP, Paulo Núncio, referred to “an attack on democracy”, criticizing “the hatred and violence” that make “the difference clear” in relation to “thousands who demonstrated peacefully”.