The artist Samantha Hudson reports that the Police sprayed her with pepper spray during the charges in the general strike: "I was about to choke"

Samantha Hudson had to be attended to this Wednesday by emergency teams after, according to her complaint, a riot police officer sprayed her face with pepper spray. The artist and activist was participating in the protest of the 11N general strike for the right to housing on Gran Vía in Madrid. Still affected by the police charge, she told 'La Séptima' live that the spray prevented her from seeing and that she felt like she was suffocating.

Gran Vía had been closed to traffic for about two hours when, around two in the afternoon, the National Police riot squad intervened to clear the roadway. Hudson explained that the officers pushed the protesters towards a narrow and crowded sidewalk. A girl fell to the ground when there was barely any room to retreat. According to the artist, the officers continued pushing and began to hit several people with their batons.

"He aimed the pepper spray directly at our face"

Hudson explained that she and her companions stayed in the front row, with their arms crossed and chanting slogans. From there they saw a boy being arrested and four police officers subduing another on the ground. They leaned out to ask them to stop. It was then, according to her account, when an officer came out from behind the shields and aimed the spray directly at their faces while they continued shouting.

The gas got into her eyes, nose, and mouth. "I was about to suffocate," she said. With people behind her and unable to see, she explained that she barely understood what was happening. "I had a very bad time, I had a lot of anxiety," she said. At the end of the interview, still visibly affected, she apologized for how nervous she was.

"Does it bother so much that we close Gran Vía? Does it bother so much that we go on strike for a day? Is this police repression really necessary?" Hudson asked. The artist denounced that during the charge, a young man's head was split open and defended that those who were there had come out to exercise "a basic and fundamental right."

Journalist María Barrier, who shares the podcast 'Bimboficadas' with Hudson, reported that the spray reached all three of them and got into their eyes, ears, and respiratory tracts. Emergency teams attended to Hudson and Weissmahr. The three said that, after waiting for their medical report, their faces were still burning.

Comisiones Obreras announces legal actions for the charges

Hudson had already spoken in September at the housing encampment in Puerta del Sol, where she defended the mobilization of young people against rising rents. This Wednesday's strike was the first 24-hour strike called jointly by Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and the Unión General de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores (UGT) since 2012. Demands for better wages and public services have been added to the demand for affordable rents.

The Police have arrested at least two people after the concentration on Gran Vía. The general secretary of CCOO in Madrid, Paloma López, estimated that 20 trade unionists were injured during the day and denounced the use of batons and pepper spray against the pickets. The union has announced that it will file a criminal complaint for the charges and the arrest of a worker at the Mercamadrid picket line.