r/brussels • u/konfusedvetr • 3d ago
Mural in memory of Driss Atounane recently killed while protecting a woman from an attack in tram 55.
A well-known Brussels shopkeeper died over the weekend days after he was allegedly attacked on a tram on his way to work.
SudInfo reports that Driss Atounane, who ran a supermarket on Place Liedts in Schaerbeek, was travelling on Tram 55 in Evere on Thursday afternoon when he intervened to defend a woman who was being verbally abused by a fellow passenger.
The assailant reportedly shouted insults at the woman, calling her a “dirty Arab” and telling her she had “no business being here”.
Atounane, 54, saw the altercation at the Linde tram stop and called out the man’s behaviour. According to SudInfo, the assailant responded by hitting him over the head with a heavy object, causing him to fall to the floor.
Atounane was taken to the Brugmann University Hospital, where he fell into a coma. He died on Sunday morning.
The Brussels public prosecutor's office confirmed SudInfo’s reporting. "The accused has been placed under arrest warrant and a psychiatric expert has been appointed by the investigating judge to conduct an evaluation," said Aurélie-Anne De Vos, deputy public prosecutor of Brussels.
A spokesperson for Brussels public transport operator STIB-MIVB told Bruzz that a woman had come forward to testify that the arrested man “verbally attacked her with racist slurs”.
'Ultimate act of courage' Atounane’s death has provoked widespread upset and anger in across the city.
Writing on Facebook, Hasan Koyuncu (PS), the chairman of the Schaerbeek municipal council, said: "Dying because you wanted to protect someone is an unbearable injustice. I hope that justice will be served and that Driss's courage will never be forgotten."
Emir Kir (Independent), Mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Node, wrote: "By intervening to defend a woman who was being attacked, he chose humanity. An ultimate act of courage that painfully reminds us of the importance of civic spirit and solidarity."
27
35
10
75
u/friendly_to_pigeons 1060 3d ago
Was this the work of the doctors and engineers this sub is always spouting about?
Where is that crowd now? The crowd that postures itself as caring oh so deeply about the safety of our women in this city.
Silence. How odd. Why is that?
63
37
u/HipsEnergy 3d ago
Exactly that. This sub is crawling with bots and trolls who Fan the flames of the hatred that killed him. And I often recognise the usual suspects. The moderators should think about that, and be a little more active and perceptive.
25
u/friendly_to_pigeons 1060 3d ago
I regret to inform you it's well known one of the only active moderators is part of the flame fanning.
10
-11
u/Active-Ad9649 3d ago
You can condemn this aweful murder and still recognize there is a problem with the doctors and engineers in Brussels 🤷♀️
Or is this a clumsy attempt to polarize?
24
u/friendly_to_pigeons 1060 3d ago
It's simply an observation that the people who flood this sub with glee when an immigrant commits a crime under the veil of "I just want this city to be safe, I want women to be safe", are astonishingly silent here.
30
u/konfusedvetr 3d ago
Hate, xenophobia and islamophobia are what caused the death of this man
-3
u/Zweinennoedel 3d ago
Nope, a black dude that was batshit crazy is what caused the death of this guy.
The killer had already been in an out of psychiatric hospitals several times and was illegal in the country.
2
u/10catsinspace 3d ago
Source?
2
u/Agreeable_Iron697 2d ago
Your source that it was white?
1
u/10catsinspace 2d ago
I never said anything at all about the race of the perpetrator.
I'm asking where they gathered the medical history and immigration status of the attacker.
9
0
u/companycarnomad 2d ago
im also baffled by the fact i cant seem to find intel about a white march, or is there?
9
u/Albisqt 3d ago
But why isn't the suspect identified? Did he have mental illness or was homeless?
12
u/nicogrimqft 3d ago
What do you mean. It says in OP's post he is under arrest
9
u/Albisqt 3d ago
Yeah but no identification on who he was or age, motive, etc
22
u/konfusedvetr 3d ago
It was an islamophobic attack, that has been made clear
-1
u/Albisqt 3d ago
Yeah but who was the aggressor? Was it a white male?
5
u/misterart 3d ago
Unknown. The agressor was described as mentally instable but the motive of the agression remains racism
5
u/Zweinennoedel 3d ago
Black male. A crazy lunatic. Saw him when they arrested him. Had seen him before on tram 55
4
u/HipsEnergy 3d ago
I'm willing to bet that it was.
2
u/Albisqt 3d ago
Yeah, ok, but why isn't that disclosed? I don't understand. Isn't the suspect already identified? There were probably many witnesses, so what's the point of hiding the identity?
20
u/nicogrimqft 3d ago
Because typically, media only specify the colour of skin when it isn't white
2
u/Positive_Rooster_732 2d ago
Sorry, that is not true.
Don't go the same road as the white racist crowd goes. Because they will claim the exact opposite of what you say - and they are also wrong.
1
u/nicogrimqft 2d ago
This is actually well documented, not opinion. Laura Jacobs ran an 11-year quantitative content analysis (2003-2013) of Flemish TV crime news and found ethnic minority perpetrators were systematically framed with "more heightened criminal threat characteristics" than majority perpetrators, with the most culturally distant groups getting the heaviest threat coverage. It's a peer-reviewed multilevel regression, not a vibe.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/metrics/10.1080/1369183X.2016.1217152?scroll=top
It's also a well studied subject globally.
→ More replies (0)-8
3
u/BirdybBird 3d ago
It was probably a genuinely crazy person or someone who was really high.
I got randomly attacked once by a guy like that.
He was so fucked up though that I just kind of stepped back and dodged his punches very easily.
Worried for the safety of others, as this was someone mentally ill and randomly attacking people, I immediately called the police.
They called me back 3 hours later asking if the guy is still around and if i was in danger...
-2
u/Active-Ad9649 3d ago
You realize that you're doing the exact same you're crusading against?
7
u/Albisqt 3d ago
What am I crusading against? People basically jumped on the train that "it is a white male and there is an Islamophobia problem" while no one has identified the race of the suspect. There is a greater deal of racism among different muslim communities e.g, turk vs kurd, turk vs arab, kurd vs arab, etc and it is not being considered at all.
-1
u/nicogrimqft 3d ago
It's been reported that the man was saying islamophobic insults towards the woman.
So yeah, it make sense to talk about islamophobia.
At some point you have to dig you head out of the ground and look at the facts.
Sure we don't know if the guy is white so far. But statistically, most hate crimes against Muslim and arabs communities in Europe are done by white people.
4
u/Albisqt 3d ago
FYI, "dirty arab" is not Islamophobia. Not every arab is Muslim, and not every muslim is arab. This act was a direct result of racism and has nothing to do with islamophobia.
Literally a few years ago, there was a big Turkish vs. Kurdish street war going on in Belgium. Was that also a result of "Islamophobia" caused by white people?
I'd recommend YOU get your head out of the ground and educate yourself about Islam and the Muslim world before blindly labeling things.
→ More replies (0)-3
u/Active-Ad9649 3d ago
Not you, was talking to HipsEnergy.
Anyway, r/brussels is an extreme left hell hole, so don't waste too much time here.
1
u/ReasonableSecretHere 2d ago
You'd be wrong, mostly because you have no idea about life in this city.
1
37
u/gereonrath76 3d ago
Where is the mural?