A 19-year-old Ethiopian youth and Racing Club basketball player was attacked at the exit of a bowling alley in the city of Mar Plata by another group of five or six people who harassed him because of his skin color, for which he remains hospitalized with favorable evolution.
The event occurred this morning at the exit of the Mr Jones dance venue, located in the Playa Grande bar area, when Alfieri Welega Fresno was attacked about six blocks from the nightclub by another group that harassed him throughout the night with racist phrases.
This attack occurred while the trial for the death of Fernando Báez Sosa was taking place in the city of Dolores at the hands of a group of young rugby players who beat him to death at the exit of a nightclub in the seaside resort of Villa Gesell in January 2020.
Fresno remained under observation for 48 hours due to blows to the head and it is estimated that he will be released.
The Justice, the Municipal Security Secretariat and the Buenos Aires Police analyzed the city and private security cameras to find the group of young people of at least seven people who gave him the beating.
According to investigative sources, Fresno and his basketball teammates went to the MrJones nightclub, located in the Playa Grande bar area, and a few minutes later a group of young people began to harass them, referring to their skin color.
Although it did not go beyond that, the racist comments continued all night, so Fresno and his friends decided to leave the nightclub.
After walking a few blocks, the Ethiopian and two friends came across the same group of young people who had harassed them at Avellaneda and Aristóbulo del Valle streets.
Fresno, who plays guard for Racing Club, began to hear racist comments again, which this time led to a brief fight.
A few minutes later, “Yoni” as he is known in the club, decompensated for which his friends decided to transfer him to the Interzonal Hospital and tonight he was evolving favorably and was only under observation, they indicated from the hospital.
A source from the investigation stated that Fresno and his friends arrived at the hospital by their own means, and that the authorities of the care center were the ones who notified the police.
There they notified the troops that at the time of admission the young man was unconscious and under the influence of alcohol.
The young people, who are resting for a few days in Mar del Plata, declared to the police that last night they decided to attend the nightclub “Mr. Jones” and around 5 they decided to retire and then a few blocks later the brawl happened.
The authorities of Racing Club de Avellaneda expressed today their repudiation of the beating attack, for alleged racist reasons, through social networks.
On Twitter they published: “We repudiate the racist attack suffered by Alfieri Welega Fresno, a player for the club’s U19 basketball team, and the aggression suffered by his teammates in the city of Mar del Plata. We stand in solidarity with his family and loved ones.”
In the event, personnel from the ninth police station intervened and the head of UFI Nº7, in charge of Dr. Leandro Arévalo, was informed ex officio, who described the cause as “injuries”.
Police spokesmen highlighted that a few days ago a 24-year-old Uruguayan was also beaten at the exit of a nightclub located in Playa Grande, by another young man who was arrested.
This case, which became known today, happened in the early hours of last Sunday in front of the nightclub “Mr. Jones”, where an argument began between two young men that culminated when one of them gave him a strong blow to the head with his fist.
Due to the blow, the victim from Uruguay fell unconscious to the ground and was immediately treated by SAME medical personnel who arrived at the scene and managed to compensate him, so there was no need to hospitalize him.