Madrid authorities have released a woman who is accused of assaulting a black man during a racist tirade.
According to the Washington Post, Cameroon-born actor Marius Makon—stage name Elton Prince—was attacked by a white woman Saturday when he was visiting a restaurant in Móstoles, Spain. The man claims he had gone into the establishment with a few friends and was immediately confronted by a woman who said to him, “I don’t want black people in this place or in front of me.”
Makon went to Facebook to describe what happened next:
“No Miss, I will only be here for a moment and then I’m leaving. I don’t have any interest in staying near you for long,” he claims to have told the woman. “I don’t care, you black piece of shit, get out of here,” she allegedly replied. Though Makon said he attempted to de-escalate the situation, the woman, who is from El Salvador, grew increasingly angry and told him, “Black piece of shit, I’m white. I can kill you and nothing will happen.” She then allegedly grabbed a bottle and hit him twice on the head with it, causing several injuries that required stitches.
The owners of the restaurant immediately called police after the attack. Though the woman was detained after authorities arrived, she was eventually released after giving her statement.
“Now I am in my house and I look through these images [of the injuries] I do not feel any hate towards the woman,” Makon wrote on Facebook. “I want to say that I am not angry with her and I don’t know why. I am sad that she feels such hate, that she lives with hate. It saddens me that she does not enjoy life, that she doesn’t leave a small space in her heart to love.”
He continued: “What’s funny is that before hitting me with the bottle she said to me, ‘I’m white and we are in Spain. I can kill you and nothing will happen to me.’ The truth is nothing has happened to her. After being identified she has gone home, while I have gone to mine with seven stitches. Now the problem is in the hands of the law. The law will decide on the sentence.”
According to the Washington Post, the Spanish Immigration and Refugee Support Network is asking Madrid authorities to investigate the attack as a hate crime.
