High-Speed Quad Incident and Riots in Oupeye: Exploring the Controversial Events and Clash with Police

2023-08-25 17:51:00

On August 18, Domenico, 30, died following police fire after refusing to comply while the young man was traveling at high speed on his quad in the streets of Oupeye (Liège). The driver reportedly tried to hit the police who had ordered him to stop. The individual refused and ran towards the two police officers. One was wounded, the other fired, fatally hitting the driver in the head. The tension has since been palpable in Oupeye and Herstal, where clashes broke out. The burgomaster of Oupeye, targeted by death threats, was forced to dislodge.

This Friday, a week after the events, Domenico’s funeral was organized at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, in Herstal. A hundred people gathered on the Place de Licourt. The family wanted a ceremony in the strictest privacy, but friends of Domenico – who shared the same passion for motorcycles and quads – also gathered for a final tribute.

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After a few readings and songs, his relatives and his family expressed themselves through a letter highlighting the qualities of the man who was nicknamed “Doms” or “Drom’s. Several relatives of the young man wore aileurs a t-shirt on which appeared the words “Justice for Drom’s”.

Many police officers crisscrossed the neighborhood, but the police were discreet, respecting the wishes of the family. Journalists were cordially invited not to be present, relatives believing that Domenico’s memory had been sullied by a series of press articles.

In the line of fire, the fact that the fatal police shooting is potentially considered an act of self-defense. This is the thesis currently supported by the police involved in this case, a scenario refuted by those close to Domenico.

Tensions to fear

The investigation is continuing. On Wednesday, the police officer who was injured was heard by Committee P, the police force. According to information disclosed by SudInfo, the police officer explained that Domenico was driving dangerously on his quad when he was seen. The police patrol therefore ordered him to stop. In vain. The driver of the quad had tried to flee and hit the police.

Committee P is due to hear the policeman who fired the fatal shot at a hearing scheduled for next week.

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In addition, tensions are clearly still to be feared in the region since Catherine Delcourt, acting governor of the province of Liège, issued a police order prohibiting the holding of the football match between Standard de Liège 16 FC and Beerschot. The meeting was scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Visé stadium, on the territory of the Basse-Meuse police zone.

The officers involved in Domenico’s death are from that same police area. They have been the target of numerous death threats since last week. At the start of the week, a young man in his twenties was also deprived of his liberty and brought before the Liège public prosecutor’s office for having posted a photo of a police officer on social networks, explaining that he was was the author of the fatal shot, when it was a policeman not involved in the facts. Catherine Delcourt justifies her decision to ban the football match by “negative signals from social networks” during the risk analysis carried out by the local police and the federal police.