The dead man’s brother Radek Jozwik, 36, was quoted as saying in The Sun daily: “The police have told us he was attacked because they heard him and his friends speaking the Polish language”. Police officials say they are investigating reports that the attackers had hurled racist abuse at the victims.
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Police across the United Kingdom have recorded a surge in racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic attacks since the June 23 referendum in which the country made a decision to leave the European Union by a 52-48 percent margin.
The killing has shaken the close-knit multicultural community in Harlow, which has a large Polish population. Others lay flowers in a memorial on the street where the attack took place.
In early July, laminated cards with messages like “No more Polish vermin” and “Go home, Polish scum” were left on cars and at several properties in Cambridgeshire, north of London.
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore of Essex Police said: “It’s concerning that the widespread media are reporting this as a hate crime, when in fact that is no more than one line of inquiry in a number of inquiries, which we are delving into to try and establish the truth, to establish that sequence of events that led to Mr. Jozwik’s tragic death”.
The death of Mr Jozwik has been devastating for his family.
“My mum came back from holiday and did not know what had happened”, he told reporters. He visited the crime scene in Harlow on Wednesday and met Mr Arkadiusz Jozwik’s family. “She is really struggling”.
Polish community groups and Poles living in Britain were joined in solidarity by other supporters and well-wishers from the town and elsewhere in the country.
Arkady Rzegocki, Poland’s ambassador to Britain, told reporters that the decision to leave the European Union had contributed to an increase in xenophobic and racist abuse.
Poland on Friday launched an investigation into the weekend murder of a Pole in Britain, which authorities there believe could be a hate crime.
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After the Brexit vote there was a spike in reported hate crimes, and incidents peaked on the day after the referendum.
