Four twenty-somethings arrested for online hate campaign against Vinicius | Sport

Four men aged between 24 and 26, followers of Atlético Madrid, were arrested on October 14 and 15 for promoting and organizing an online campaign against Vinicius in the days before the last Madrid derby. Under the hashtag #metropolitanoconmascarillas, Red and White fans were asked to insult and harass a Real Madrid athlete in the match on September 29, especially with racist overtones, and to walk around with their faces covered so that they could not be identified. . The campaign had 1.7 billion views, 7,000 tweets and 56,000 interactions.

The tension and controversy that rocked the latest Madrid derby at the Civitas Metropolitano stadium was preceded by this digital campaign, which may constitute a hate crime. Thus, the radicals heated up the atmosphere, which later erupted on the field, where several ultras threw objects at the field, which is why the match even had to be stopped for several minutes. The investigation into what happened at the stadium was joined in previous days by digital investigations that led to the arrest of four ultras in their twenties after police identified them as the authors of the campaign.

The investigation began on October 1 after receiving three complaints from the Professional Football League about a possible hate crime. Specifically, the organization presented a series of posts as the start of a campaign that went viral in the days leading up to the meeting. In the following days, police traced the origins of these tweets and were able to identify four alleged perpetrators of the initiative. Agents warn that they may not be the last to be detained in this operation. In its statement, the body highlights the enormous “social anxiety” caused by the hashtag.

The hate campaign encouraged people to hide their faces in response to the arrest of several Valencia fans last year for insulting the Madrid striker. The identification of the faces of the fans shouting racist chants at the player was made possible thanks to a detailed analysis of images taken inside the Mestalla, with the help of which the campaign organizers sought to encourage those who came to the stadium to continue harassing Vinicius, but at the same time avoid possible consequences . A month ago, a court in Palma sentenced a man to one year in prison and expulsion from Mallorca’s stadium for making offensive comments about Vinicius and Villarreal player Samu Chukwueze in separate matches in 2023.

Last May, four young men associated with the Athletic Front, an ultra group of the red and white team, were arrested for hanging an inflatable doll with Vinicius’s shirt and the motto “Madrid Hates Real” on a bridge near Valdebebas, where the Madrid sports city is located. . This action was carried out a few days before the Copa del Rey match, in which both teams were scheduled to face each other. Key to this investigation was a post the authors themselves made on social media shortly before hanging the doll, in which it was seen leaning against a wall near a regular meeting place for football radicals.

Vinicius has carried the fight against racism as his flag for some time and has not hesitated to stop matches to point out fans who have made derogatory comments about the color of his skin. The ultras’ response is to intensify their attacks in this sense. And the police response is to arrest them not only for crimes committed in the countryside, but also for those that occur on social networks.