While recognising that confronting an altered person armed with a knife is an extremely risky situation, what happened a few days ago outside Gando airport raises serious doubts. Pending the results of the investigation, the actions of the National Police officers seem clearly disproportionate.
In Gran Canaria, several rallies have demanded clarity and justice for the death of the young Gambian Abdoulie Bah. Associations of African migrants and social groups are demanding urgent explanations: why was the chest of a person with obvious signs of mental disturbance shot into?
Social workers have come forward to remind us that the young man was not a criminal, but a vulnerable person in need of help. Are our police forces prepared to intervene non-lethally in cases of people with mental disorders? What protocols exist? Why were they not applied?
Even if the young man acted in a threatening manner, one might ask: couldn't four armed officers reduce him without shooting him? Were there no other alternatives? A shot to the leg, a taser, a specialised intervention... there were options.
The direct and lethal shot to the chest is all too reminiscent of scenes of police brutality that in other countries, such as the United States, have given rise to movements like Black Lives Matter. Do we want to import this model of violence to Europe? Do we want to turn our islands into yet another scene of institutional racism?
This is not an isolated incident. It is the reflection of a latent racism that is still present in Spain: in housing, in employment, in the street. A silent but deep racism that marginalises, pushes and sometimes kills. Racial profiling, baseless suspicions, unequal treatment... are documented. We know it. But we still fail to act. This shooting didn't just kill Abdoulie. It also shot at our idea of justice, at equality, at dignity.
The Canary Islands is a land of welcome. A land of mixed race, solidarity and diversity. We cannot allow lack of training, fear or prejudice to turn every intervention into a death sentence. The lives of migrants, black or non-white, matter. And that must be reflected in every decision, in every police action, in every protocol. Justice cannot be selective. Nor can humanity.