A volunteer gathering signatures for President Andrzej Duda’s election campaign was brutally attacked on Saturday morning in the Praga district in Warsaw, according to Warsaw police sources.
Press officer Katarzyna Puszczyk indicated that evidence concerning the suspect was gathered from street camera recordings.
According to information from the Warsaw Police, the assailant first insulted Duda’s campaign volunteer and then left the scene for several minutes.
“When he returned, he was wearing a ski-mask and physically assaulted the man by kicking him. The assailant was chased off by passersby who reacted to seeing the attack,” superintendent Jarosław Florczak explained.
Deputy Minister of Justice Sebastian Kaleta referred to the incident on social media, writing,“The hater militias of #StrongTogether [Poland’s opposition hashtag] in action. Today they attempted to beat up my assistant who was gathering signatures for Andrzej Duda’s candidacy.”
He added that nothing serious happened to the victim.
PiS MEP and Duda’s campaign staff member, Joachim Brudziński, referred to the recent incident of main opposition presidential candidate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska congratulating the protesters who were violently interrupting state celebrations in Puck led by Duda, indicating that such support from politicians encourages violent attacks such as the one in Warsaw.
“Will Mrs. Kidawa and her staff, as well as other candidates in the race, condemn the aggression of President Duda’s opponents this time? Or will we again hear, as in the case of the “Kashubians” from Puck, that ‘you reap what you sow?’”
Czy tym razem pani Kidawa i jej sztab oraz inni kandydaci znajdą w sobie potrzebę aby potępić agresje przeciwników Prezydenta @AndrzejDuda2020 czy znowu usłyszymy,jak w przypadku „Kaszubów” z Pucka, że: „kto sieje wiatr zbiera burze”? https://t.co/GPJztSPKY8
— Joachim Brudziński (@jbrudzinski) March 3, 2020
The Warsaw Police posted about further proceedings concerning the culprit and added a video of the entire assault.
Zatrzymany do sprawy sobotniego ataku na wolontariusza mężczyzna, dzisiejszą noc spędzi w areszcie policyjnym. Jutro dalsze czynności będą realizowane z udzialem prokuratora. W ustaleniu tożsamości mężczyzny pomogły pozyskane przez policjantów nagrania. pic.twitter.com/VdowJLrOs4
— Policja Warszawa (@Policja_KSP) March 3, 2020
Warsaw Police issued a statement on Twitter, saying, “The culprit of the Saturday attack on a volunteer will spend this night under arrest. Further actions will be undertaken with the participation of the prosecutor. Recordings accessed by police officers helped determine the man’s identity.”
