The fatal stabbing of an 11-year-old as he played football with friends has put misinformation into the spotlight in Spain after false claims were spread on social media saying the suspect was of north African origin or an unaccompanied minor seeking asylum.
The attack took place on Sunday morning when the child, named by his family as Mateo, was among several children playing football at a sports centre in the small town of Mocejón in the centre of the country. A man, with a hood pulled over his head and wearing a scarf to conceal his face, ran on to the field wielding a sharp object.
The victim’s family later suggested the attack was random, saying the man first approached another group of young people on the field who managed to slip away. He then caught Mateo, who was with two friends, reportedly stabbing him more than 10 times before fleeing the scene.
After police combed the area using land and air surveillance in an operation that stretched more than 30 hours, a 20-year-old man was arrested at his father’s house in Mocejón in connection with the crime.
In the dozens of hours between the attack and the arrest, posts swiftly spread on social media making false assertions that the suspect was of north African origin or an unaccompanied minor seeking asylum in Spain, in an echo of the way recent killings in the English town of Southport were used to stoke anti-immigration tensions.
Among those who weighed in was Alvise Pérez, a 34-year-old far-right agitator from Seville who was recently elected to the European parliament. Pérez, whose political success was in part buoyed by his hardline anti-immigrant stance, drew a link on social media between the murder and the arrival of “50 Africans” at a hotel in the area. Pérez has been approached for comment.
As misinformation about the attacker’s identity proliferated online, the family of the victim pleaded with people to let the police do their jobs. “This has nothing to do with race or ideology,” Asell Sánchez, a relative acting as a spokesperson for the family, told reporters. “They’re talking about migrants who have come to the hotel, these are peaceful people who are getting on with their lives, it has nothing to do with this.”
Instead he pointed to evidence suggesting that the assailant had entered the sports centre via a broken back door, suggesting the attack had been carried out by someone who knew their way around the area. Still, misleading posts continued to rack up views even as police sources made it clear in the Spanish media they had ruled out any jihadist connection to the killing.
Sánchez later broke down in tears as he recounted how the misinformation had led to him becoming the target of online attacks. “It’s been horrible,” he told the broadcaster Cope. “I did this out of love for my family and I’m receiving criticism on social media, they’re attacking me. They’re investigating my past – I don’t have any kind of past, I’ve worked in media.”
He added: “They’re pulling things out of context, they’re telling me that my hands are dirty because I have pictures [on social media] from Africa. It’s been really difficult.”
A source with the hate crimes unit of Spain’s public prosecutor said they were looking into several of the messages that had been disseminated and which had sought to criminalise foreigners and “spark feelings of hatred, hostility and discrimination” against certain groups.
On Tuesday, one day after Spanish media broadcast images that appeared to show a young white man being arrested in connection with the crime, the Spanish government’s representative in the region of Castilla-La Mancha highlighted how the misinformation had exploited people’s emotions in a case that had gripped Spain.
Milagros Tolón condemned those who had knowingly spread false claims, describing them as “sowers of hatred who had taken advantage of human suffering, such as the death of an 11-year-old child, to vent all their hatred on social media”.
Speaking to reporters, she characterised social media as a “dumping ground for filth”, as a cadre of mostly anonymous users look to lay blame on people over their skin colour or religion. Others aimed to spread falsehoods simply for personal gain, she added, without going into further detail.
“Can one be more cruel and wretched?” she said. “I’m asking the hatemongers to be human and behave like human beings. Their misinformation causes harm and can provoke anger in innocent people. You cannot take advantage of one tragedy to create another.”
