The President of Wrocław has condemned a brutal attack on a man who was beaten up after critising homophobic graffiti near Trzebnicki Bridge.
The victim of the sickening attack was Przemysław Witkowski, who works as a journalist at oko.press as well as at Wrocław University.
I was cycling with my girlfriend Ania along the Odra . On the wall we then saw a mass of inscriptions, including homophobic ones like “Fight against LGBT”, “Stop LGBT pedophiles”, as well as “Fight against cultural Marxism” and white power symbols. We commented loudly that it was a scandal, In fact I used a stronger word. We passed several people, including one youth. We eventually reached a dead end, so we turned back. Ania went ahead of myself, as I had an issue with one of my wheels. I got off the bike and then this boy ran up to me.
He surprised me. They were simple blows, maybe he knew some martial arts. I tried to defend myself, but I fell to the ground. I have a broken nose and can feel it clearly.
Krzysztof Marcjan of Wrocław police has confirmed that the attack had taken place yesterday evening. that Przemysław suffered “life-threatening injuries”. Officer that they are collecting as much evidence as possible in order to find the perpetrator of the attack.
In response to the attack, Wrocław’s President expressed his desire to fight the growing torrent of xenophobia that is making its presence felt in the city.
I am shocked and saddened by the beating of Przemysław Witkowski. We have fought in Wroclaw against manifestations of intolerance, we are fighting it now and we will continue to fight homophobia, hate speech and fascism. I want to tell all these homophobes, so called “real Poles” and neo-fascists, that Wrocław is not your home. With all the means we have available, we will fight this plague in Wroclaw.
The incident comes just days after an attack on an LGBT march in Białystock . Following the march, Gazeta Polska announced that they would be giving away ‘LGBT free zone’ stickers in one of its issues this week. The announcement then prompted .
On Saturday a demonstration has been organised for Wrocławians to . One would now expect the event to also show solidarity with Przemysław Witkowski. It is to take place on the Market Square at 2pm.
The graffiti Przemysław commented on yesterday is still visible at the time of writing. However Wrocławskie Centrum Sprawiedliwości Naprawczej will almost certainly wash it off soon. The local government department also removed .
