Racist cops mock 'Mr Golliwog' street seller
Two Spanish police officers are being investigated after a video emerged which appears to show them racially abusing a street seller and then destroying the man's merchandise.
In the short video filmed by a colleague, an officer from Ibiza's Santa Eulalia station can be seen talking on a mobile phone in a police garage, apparently to a street vendor.
"Yes, yes, don't worry," says the policeman while holding up a tray of sunglasses. "Your glasses are fine.
"We'll give them to you tomorrow," the agent then says, while trying to hold back laughter.
"OK then Mr Golliwog. Goodbye," the officer says, signing off on the conversation.
He then spins around and kicks the tray containing the sunglasses against the wall of the garage. At this point, the two officers can be heard laughing.
Officials in Santa Eulalia have now called the two officers in for questioning over the "racist" and "improper comments".
An initial reaction from the police suggests the incident was a 'joke' and that it was never meant to come to light.
The video was filmed three years ago during the tourist season in Ibiza when many many street vendors operate on the beaches of Ibiza, Spain's El Mundo newspaper reported.
A recent Spanish study showed black Africans are up to 17 times more likely to be the subject of a police identity check on the street.
The study carried out by Spain's Valencia University with assistance from Oxford University in the UK revealed that non-Spanish nationals from ethnic minorities are three times more likely to be stopped by police than 'white' Spanish nationals.
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In the short video filmed by a colleague, an officer from Ibiza's Santa Eulalia station can be seen talking on a mobile phone in a police garage, apparently to a street vendor.
"Yes, yes, don't worry," says the policeman while holding up a tray of sunglasses. "Your glasses are fine.
"We'll give them to you tomorrow," the agent then says, while trying to hold back laughter.
"OK then Mr Golliwog. Goodbye," the officer says, signing off on the conversation.
He then spins around and kicks the tray containing the sunglasses against the wall of the garage. At this point, the two officers can be heard laughing.
Officials in Santa Eulalia have now called the two officers in for questioning over the "racist" and "improper comments".
An initial reaction from the police suggests the incident was a 'joke' and that it was never meant to come to light.
The video was filmed three years ago during the tourist season in Ibiza when many many street vendors operate on the beaches of Ibiza, Spain's El Mundo newspaper reported.
A recent Spanish study showed black Africans are up to 17 times more likely to be the subject of a police identity check on the street.
The study carried out by Spain's Valencia University with assistance from Oxford University in the UK revealed that non-Spanish nationals from ethnic minorities are three times more likely to be stopped by police than 'white' Spanish nationals.
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