Masked man hits protest organiser at Warsaw's Constitutional Tribunal, found with knife

A masked man hits a protest organiser

Around 11:00 on Saturday, 31 October, a female organiser of an assembly in front of the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw noticed a man whose face was covered by a balaclava. When she asked him to take it off, he struck her and ran, police said in a post on X. Other participants tried to hold him, but the 30-year-old pulled free and kept running. Police securing the gathering detained him. Wpolityce.pl reports that protesters wrestled a knife from him and pushed him out of the crowd, and that he then ran to a parked police car, opened its door and climbed inside to shelter from his pursuers. That detail appears only in that outlet's account.

What police found on him

Officers found a knife, a gas pistol that fires balls and a badge marked 'Security' that police say resembles a police badge in shape. They also found narcotics on the man. He was taken to a police unit, where further procedures are being carried out. Wpolityce.pl also reports that witnesses described a large assault-type knife and a holster at his right side that appeared to contain an object resembling a firearm. The police statement does not repeat the holster detail.

A dispute over the tribunal's leadership

The protest took place amid a dispute over who runs the tribunal. On Friday, 30 October, police arrived on the grounds between 17:00 and 18:00 acting on information from Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska about possible threats to the life or health of the tribunal's judges and staff, and a risk of public disorder. Around 18:00 a notice on the court's website announced a break in the duties of president Bogdan Święczkowski and vice-president Bartłomiej Sochański, and Korwin-Piotrowska, the judge with the longest service, was named to head the court. Crowds then tried to get onto the grounds, and police reported that three people who jumped the fence had been detained. Święczkowski entered the grounds himself and appealed to protesters through a megaphone to stay calm and withdraw.

The president's return and reactions

President Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Poland, and he then appeared at the tribunal's seat. Before that he had consulted Supreme Court first president Zbigniew Kapiński and Święczkowski. In an interview with Polsat News, PiS MP Anna Gembicka described the moment the situation turned tense in front of the building:

“At one point there was confusion, and people started shouting: Provocateur. At one point they were pulling the knife out of his hands.”

Gembicka also said the organisers had asked the man to remove the mask because they were concerned about safety. Police said further procedures with the detained man are continuing at the unit.