Young man arrested in Toledo for assaulting disabled man in a wheelchair

The National Police in Spain have arrested a 29-year-old man in the city of Toledo on suspicion of injury, hate crimes and crimes against moral integrity for having attacked a 35-year-old man with a physical disability. The events occurred on the night of 30 July in the Palomarejo neighbourhood, near the old Virgen de la Salud hospital, when the suspect allegedly began to mock a man who was in a wheelchair. When he reproached him for his action, the arrested man began to insult him and ended up pushing him to the ground and repeatedly hitting him on the head.

Several people who witnessed the aggression alerted the National Police. When they arrived, the young man refused to identify himself and attacked the officers, for which he was initially arrested for an offence of assaulting an officer of the law.

Later, officers from the violent extremism and hate (EVO) unit of the National Police opened an investigation to determine whether these events could constitute a hate crime. According to their investigation, there were no personal problems between them and the only motive for the aggression was related to the perpetrator's prejudice and contempt for the victim's disability.

The National Police said that since 2020, it has been running a campaign in collaboration with the Legálitas foundation aimed at young people with the aim of disseminating, informing and raising awareness of hate crimes and their prevention. The campaign consists of videos that can be downloaded from the website dinoalodio.es so that citizens, schools and associations can use them freely, helping to raise awareness among young people and eradicate this type of crime.