The Brussels-Midi police zone held a council meeting on Tuesday after the officer who ran 19-year-old Adil over in 2020 was accused of racism by one of his colleagues last week.
Citizens from the Anderlecht municipality protested outside the building during the meeting. They demanded the police to be held accountable, not only for Adil's death (the trial of which has been postponed until September) but also for racism within the police's ranks.
During the meeting, there were discussions surrounding the claims made by a female officer that the police officer responsible for the 19-year-old's death had used racist slurs. She also claims that he boasted about "taking one of them off the streets", in reference to Adil's ethnicity.
'We are still afraid for our children'
The Brussels-Midi police zone's Chief Constable Jurgen De Landsheer refuted claims that institutional racism was plaguing the police, reported La Dernière Heure. The council's head and mayor of Forest, Mariam El Hamidine, denied that authorities had turned a blind eye to these allegations.
Meanwhile, there is a growing sense of frustration among residents that the force are not doing enough to combat the racist behaviour of their officers. They were especially angered by the constable's comments calling for "justice for Adil, but also for your police."
"We have now reached a fourth generation of immigration yet we are still afraid for our children, even during a routine police check", a father at the council meeting told La Dernière Heure.
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'There will be another Adil'
His words echoed the sentiments of both protestors and Anderlecht residents, with a young man stressing to La Libre that "we've been saying for years" how the police are racist. "There will be another Adil and the police will still find excuses to justify why they kill our little brothers as if they were dirt", he added.
Ahmed, the director of a local youth centre, agreed and told La Libre that victims of police violence – such as Adil, Mehdi, Sabrina and Ouassim – often share a similar background.
"During the Black Lives Matter movement, I heard 'I am George Floyd' chants in Brussels, but you will never hear 'I am Adil' because nobody wants to identify with Adil or any other young person who looks like him", he concluded.
