An unidentified vandal destroyed the windscreen and rear-view mirror of the car of Catalan parliamentary deputy and writer Jenn Díaz on Sunday morning. Díaz, MP for the pro-independence ERC party, lives in a residential area close to the town of Sant Andreu de la Barca, which has been under a media spotlight following the complaint made by the Civil Guard against nine teachers of local high school El Palau for an alleged hate crime.
Due to the circumstances affecting the town and the car owner's status as an MP, the Mossos d'Esquadra police who are investigating the incident did not want to categorise the incident as a mere act of vandalism. Díaz's car was the only vehicle of those parked in the area that was touched.
"Both the local police as well as the Mossos have said that if someone wants to break into your car they smash a side window to get in. Here, they broke the rear-view mirror and shattered the windscreen, without actually removing any glass. Nor is it a typical act of vandalism, where people scratch the paint with a key or dent the body. This is not a mere act of childishness, as if someone had thrown a stone", explained Jenn Díaz to El Nacional.
Díaz herself laid a complaint with the Mossos on Sunday morning, as El Mundo reported. "I couldn't rule out the possibility that this was done because I am in favour of Catalan independence", she said.
"I live in a small residential area, a very peaceful place, close to a forested zone, where the only thing that ever happens is the occasional episode of teenage revelry. We went outside this morning and saw the smashed windscreen and broken mirror. My partner found a rock which could have been what the attackers used to do the damage".
Díaz says that she is well and does not feel afraid. "Maybe the fact that is a yellow car has not gone unnoticed. Perhaps it is a seditious car", joked the deputy, referring to the current symbolism of the colour yellow to show solidarity with Catalonia's political prisoners. Díaz moved to her current residence three years ago. "I wasn't born here, I don't make my life in the town [Sant Andreu de la Barca] and we don't have any pro-independence symbols on show, no flags or anything. But it seems to me that there is a clear intentionality in this attack".
"I am not frightened. If that is all they have to do.... Tomorrow we'll call the insurance company, change the glass and that will be the end of it".
Gràcies, companys i companyes, pels vostres missatges i el vostre suport! No sabem qui ha sigut ni amb quina intenció. Callar no pensem callar: ni ahir, ni avui, ni demà.
— Jenn Díaz (@JnnDiaz) 6 de maig de 2018
Translation: Thank you companions, for your messages and your support! We don't know who did this or what their motive was. But we have no intention of shutting up: not yesterday, not today, and not tomorrow either. — Jenn Díaz