It all started on Thursday, July 3, when an anonymous X/Twitter account supporting Chega, with the pseudonym 'Sr. Dr. Zé Nunes' and the description "Bruno Nunes' assistant at X - Radicalist of common sense - Graduated on a Sunday", published a 19-second video of an alleged "protest in front of Luís Montenegro's official residence" in which a protester with a megaphone can be seen and heard saying that "either you resolve this as soon as possible, or things will get ugly".
This tweet, which did not indicate the origin or context of the images, has already been viewed more than 23 thousand times and has been shared and commented on dozens of times, many of them racist and with calls for deportation due to the "threat" made during a protest at the Portuguese Prime Minister's official residence in Lisbon.
The following day, Friday, another account from the same group returned to the topic. Although without publishing that video. In a tweet that has already been viewed more than 154,000 times and has been shared and commented on hundreds of times, the account 'Questione-se' claims that "the Angolan immigrant community demonstrated in front of the Prime Minister's official residence and threatened Portugal's internal security."
The authors of this tweet added the claim that "the Angolan spokesperson stated that things will get 'ugly' if they block his entry into Portugal," a claim that does not appear in this video.
However, a reverse image search of the video frame that shows the Prime Minister's alleged residence reveals in seconds that it is in fact one of the buildings of the Portuguese embassy in London, namely the ambassador's residence.
The next clue was some graphic elements also visible in the video and easily associated with Angola, such as the protester's cap and a T-shirt that someone is holding, also with Angolan colors.
These two clues allowed us to do some research on Google and social media such as TikTok, and we found one of the videos calling for the protest on June 28, in a solidarity initiative for the death of Maria Luemba, a young Angolan woman found dead on June 12, in Sever do Vouga, Aveiro.
Further research on YouTube and TikTok allowed us to find several videos of the protest held in London, including the original video of almost three minutes from which the 19 seconds circulating in Portugal were extracted (https://www.tiktok.com/@criative_sem_filtro/video/7521313334482717974).
In this video, it is possible to hear a more complete version of the protester's speech and the context of his words. Among the statements, the "feeling of sadness and revolt" over the young woman's death stands out, especially "against the Portuguese justice system and against the Portuguese government, which is turning a blind eye to this situation".
"We cannot remain silent (...). We are upset about this situation and we are going to send a statement to the Portuguese government. Either you resolve this as soon as possible, or things will get ugly, because a life lost is a life, regardless of skin color or race, we all have blood, blood is only red," said the protester.
In the speech, he also asked for solidarity from the Portuguese people, recalled other deaths of Africans in Portugal and criticized the Angolan government's inaction. "We call on the Brazilian government and justice system to take action on this. Because if our mothers are crying, someone else's mother will cry too. (...). You better start looking at this, because the spirit of revolt is starting to emerge among us. (...) We want justice. (...) If you don't want to see things get worse among the people, resolve this now."
In addition to this information, the demonstration held in Lisbon on the same issue took place the following day, June 29, with a peaceful parade between Rossio and Praça do Comércio, so that the protesters never came close to the official residence of the Portuguese Prime Minister, which is the Palacete de São Bento, located behind the Assembly of the Republic.
The death of the young Maria Luemba caused great consternation in the Angolan community and beyond, because the family does not accept the theory of suicide indicated by the Judiciary Police. Meanwhile, the Attorney General's Office decided to open an investigation into the case, as explained by the verification project Polígrafo África in an article published on June 28.
For this verification, Lusa Verifica contacted the author of some of the videos of the protest in London, Kuabo Mabula, an Angolan citizen living in the United Kingdom, who explained that they only intended to convey messages of solidarity and justice. "I was the main organizer of the protest, which had a peaceful objective of showing solidarity with the grieving family. We had participants from several countries, including Portuguese, and those who spoke said what they wanted, but the main message was to pressure the Portuguese government to act."
Through this contact, it was also possible to identify and speak to the protester who is being targeted on social media in Portugal. Isménio Samuel, a citizen with dual Angolan and Portuguese nationality, was unaware that his intervention was being used by the far right to attack him with distorted information.
"I did not threaten anyone. I issued a warning, a call to the Portuguese justice system and the Portuguese government because we feel wronged by what happened and we showed our discontent. I said that things could get ugly because anyone who suffers such a loss feels furious because there is no justice. And if they do not see justice, people may revolt," he explained.
According to this cook who lives between Portugal and England, nothing moves him against the Portuguese people. "As I said there, it is not against the Portuguese. In fact, Portugal is also my home. I have lived there my whole life, I cannot speak against the Portuguese people nor do I want to foment hatred between people. We want there to be unity, but we cannot continue to die without justice. A family that loses a child feels outraged and wants the guilty party to be punished. The message I tried to convey is that the Portuguese authorities cannot turn a blind eye to what happened."
Therefore, it is possible to conclude that it is false that Angolan protesters threatened Portugal in a protest held near the official residence of the Portuguese Prime Minister in Lisbon, since the video circulating on social media refers to a protest held at the Portuguese embassy in London, in which people of various nationalities participated, and the demonstration held in Lisbon on the same issue was peaceful.
