The murder of a young man in the early hours of Saturday in the streets of A Coruña (Galicia, North Western Spain) has caused a great commotion.

Samuel Luiz, aged 24, was attacked with shocking violence by a group of over 7 people. According to witnesses, the young man was unintentionally involved in a fight that broke out outside a night club at around 3 a.m.

The beating of the aggressors caused him very serious injuries, and health workers who arrived at the scene later could do nothing to save Samuel’s life.

Samuel worked as a nursing assistant in a care home in the city and was studying a degree in odontology. His family and friends spoke about his friendly character and described him as a peaceful person.

An evangelical family

The regional newspaper La Voz de Galicia was  the first to mention Samuel’s links to the evangelical community. He attended the small a Congregación Cristiana en España church, where he was involved in the worship team.

As details of the murder were known on Monday, friends of Samuel started to speak on social media of an alleged homophobic motivation behind the crime. A friend of Samuel who was with him when he was attacked, said the dispute lead to homophobic insults shouted at the victim.

As these details were shared by friends of Samuel, dozens of LGBT groups called to protest across Spain on Monday against what they described as an “homophobic hate crime”. In Madrid alone, thousands waved rainbow flags as they asked the authorities to better protect homosexual people.

But on Tuesday, the police had not yet confirmed a motivation of the attack. Judicial inquiries continued to be carried out under secrecy in summary proceedings. It has been known that at least 15 witnesses of the attack have been questioned and the police has had access to security camera and mobile phone recordings of the attack.

Despite the lack of official information, representatives of all main political parties, including the President of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, alluded to the rights of LGBT people as they condemned the crime.

Max, father of Samuel: “Thank you for your prayers”

Max Luiz, the father of Samuel, has been the only member of the family who has spoken in public about the crime.

On Sunday, he went to the place where his son was murdered and left a written message.

“Hello, I am the father of Samuel. I would firstly like to thank the excellent work of the 061 [emergency number] teams for the effort they made to take medical care of our son”, it read.

“They [the aggressors] took the only light that lit up our life. We know we will have to walk a very long journey now. We will be supported by our family, friends, and colleagues who will help us get out of this dark journey. We thank you all for your prayers and expressions of affection. Thanks to this marvellous city of A Coruña, may God give you back all the affection you are showing to us. A big hug to everyone. Our hope is no one will ever have to experience such a dark day as the one we are going through”.

The following day, Max Luiz told Antena 3 television that his desire was that “no one uses the death of my son for political purposes”. He thanked for all the messages of support, but added that he did not want that “this terrible homicide to be used as a flag”, referring to the numerous demonstrations being organised across Spain.

The father of Samuel, who is an evangelical Christian, asked that “justice is done, the people responsible be arrested, and that Samuel will be remembered for being a cheerful, good and hard-working person who hated violence. Nothing else”.

Talking live on television, he called again for prayers and for the authorities to work to prevent similar tragedies from happening.

He clocluded: “If all those who go to a protest bring a package of food to the Red Cross, I know my son would be happy. He was a health worker at the Red Cross and always helped others”.

Evangelical Alliance: “Profound consternation and grieve”

The Spanish Evangelical Alliance (AEE) responded to the murder of Samuel Luiz expressing “a profound consternation and grieve” and “our total condemnation” of the crime.

The evangelical entity expressed its solidarity with the family of the victim. “We join with the words of the father of Samuel, Max Luiz, both in his sorrow and in his thankfulness to the health workers and to the caring reaction of the Galician and Spanish society”.

“We also identify with his prayer and desire that such a dark day does not happen again”, says the statement, but “unfortunately, this reality is seen in our society in the violence against women and the unborn, in the extremist expressions of many ideas, and sadly even in the verbal violence in the political institutions that represent the population. Often, we as citizens are more part of the problem than of the solution”, the AEE said.

The evangelical body in Spain also underlined the fact that the father of Samuel asked the tragedy not to be used for activist causes, “because precisely the use (and sometimes manipulation) of terrible events like this, end up leading to the opposite outcome than the theoretical purpose, only promoting more confrontation and tensions instead of the search for a of dialogue and social peace”.

According to the AEE, “a deep joint reflection and serious work is needed to find answers and solutions” to realities such as the increasing violence in society.

Evangelical Council of Galicia

The regional Evangelical Council of Galicia also released a statement “to express its deep repulsion for the brutal beating. Hatred, verbal or physical aggression, as well as any act of violence were never and will never be an option”.

They “join in prayer with the words declared by his father […] and support Max Luiz's plea that this terrible murder should not be used as a banner for anyone".

“We hope that Samuel's death will not be in vain and that this terrible event will help society as a whole to bring light and greater understanding on the evil consequences of confrontation and tension instead of the search for a path towards dialogue and social peace”, concludes the statement.