Two Senegalese migrants were on Monday honored by the Spanish city of A Coruña for their heroics after intervening during a fatal July 2021 homophobic beating of a man.
Per BBC, the mayor of A Coruña during the formal ceremony gave Ibrahima Diack and Magatte N’Diaye honorary plaques and conferred them the title of “Adopted Sons of A Coruña.” The event took place at the city council hall.
The 2021 fatal beating of Samuel Luiz by a group of homophobic men outside a nightclub in the city was widely condemned in the European nation. The fatal incident was witnessed by bystanders, with footage showing some of them videoing the beating on phones.
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Diack and N’Diaye were undocumented migrants residing in A Coruña when the fatal incident occurred. But they solely intervened, despite their illegal status putting them in danger of arrest or deportation by authorities, BBC reported.
Rosalía López, who is a city councilor, lauded the men for their heroics in an Instagram post. “Thank you for your example in risking everything despite having a lot to lose,” said López.
On Monday, the pair said they stepped in to help because that was the ideal solution in trying to bring the fatal beating to an end. “We are not heroes, we did what we had to do,” N’Diaye stated, per AFP.
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“I was born in a family that doesn’t have much… but they gave me many things more valuable than money. They gave me respect, education and above all, values,” Diack also said.
“That two undocumented migrants were the only ones who physically risked themselves to help the victim of a pack thirsting for horror leaves much food for thought and a series of lessons,” Mayor Inés Rey said.
In the wake of the attack, Luiz was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. But Diack and N’Diaye reportedly served as key witnesses during the November 2024 trial of the victim’s killing.
Four men were ultimately convicted of Luiz’s killing, and they were handed prison sentences between 10 and 24 years, BBC reported. Authorities also determined the man who was sentenced to 24 years hurled homophobic slurs when they were beating the victim. That individual was labeled as the principal suspect.
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