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POLICE on the Costa del Sol say a man who died after being tasered inside a Torremolinos phone shop on Sunday had threatened officers with scissors and screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’, an Arabic phrase meaning ‘God is the Greatest’.
The death of a 35-year-old Moroccan man known as Haitam has caused uproar in the local community, with family and friends demanding ‘justice’ and accusing agents from the Policia Nacional of ‘murder’.
The man died of a cardiac arrest after he was tasered. He had been acting aggressively after allegedly trying a robbery at a phone store on Calle Hoyo.
Six police officers who were involved in the incident stated that Haitam did not comply with the request to drop the pair of scissors in his hand.
He was disarmed after two officers attempted holding him down.
READ MORE: WATCH: ‘Murdered by racism in cold blood’: Fury in Torremolinos as police tasered ‘innocent man four times while he asked to borrow a charger’
The officers were unable and a taser was fired at close range by an officer.
Four officers then handcuffed the man after firing two more taser rounds.
Police claim the man was in a state of ‘extreme agitation’ before collapsing – with officers requesting that security camera footage from the shop be included in the report.
Officers and paramedics started CPR, but the man couldn’t be revived.
According to a report on toxicology, the man might have taken drugs prior to the accident.
Haitam’s family believes that police officers used excessive force and have told local media, “The heart attack wasn’t natural as police say.”
“Eight officers were there, each with four taser guns. This caused his heart to stop…no heart can resist that much electric shock.”
Dozens of handwritten signs have appeared at the scene of his death, transforming the shuttered shopfront into a shrine demanding ‘Justice for Haitam’.
READ MORE: ‘Phone thief caught red-handed in Torremolinos internet cafe’ dies from cardiac arrest during police struggle
Haitam had only asked to borrow a charger for his phone, according to notes taped on the metal shutters. However, the situation quickly spiraled out of control.
“The police killed him…and this place permitted it,” one note reads.
Another said, “Murdered in cold blood by racism,”
This death was compared to that of George Floyd. An African-American who was killed by a police officer white in Minnesota in May 2020 during an arrest.
The murder led to worldwide protests against police brutality and racism under the ‘Black Lives Matter’ banner.
READ MORE: Warning in Torremolinos after violent thugs place expat, 64, into a chokehold and rob him – following wave of identical attacks in Barcelona
The secretary-general of far-left Podemos, Ione Belarra, said on X: “Saying that you ‘die’ of a heart attack while the police stop you is the same as saying that women ‘die’ at the hands of their partner while they’re beating them.
We must stop this racism and police violence now.
The SUP Police Union has filed a complaint against Belarra on charges of defamation as well as serious insults, and crimes motivated by hatred against police officers.
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