Czech Police investigating red carpet attack on Romani singer Jan Bendig

Bendig was on the red carpet when an assailant who has yet to be identified poured a bag of flour over him. “We heard about the incident during the Czech Nightingale ceremony from the media and Prague detectives started investigating it on their own initiative. They have been verifying whether this was a felony and seeking the identity of the as-yet unidentified man involved,” police spokesperson Richard Hrdina told Romea.cz

According to footage of the incident captured live by news server TN.cz, the attack happened before the official start of the gala evening. Bendig was posing for photographers in front of the Forum Karlín venue when a man in a red jacket approached him from behind.

The man pulled a bag of flour out of the shopping bag he was carrying and poured it over the head of the unsuspecting singer. He then quickly ran away.

The perpetrator’s motives are unclear. Tabloid media have reported that the attacker also shouted “Gypsy!”, a term of racist abuse, at Bendig.

No such speech can be heard on the available video footage, though. According to Lukáš Rejmon, the singer’s boyfriend, Bendig was shaken by the attack.

“Honza is absolutely devastated. What if that had been acid? I’m messing around here in the dressing room and there’s no security anywhere,” Rejmon told news server eXtra.cz.

Bendig later performed during the ceremony with another Romani singer, Monika Bagárová. Rejmon commented on the incident again on Saturday afternoon.

“When I watch the video, I really don’t get why security didn’t intervene. Not one of them came to the scene after the incident. I’m sorry about that. People are already sending us photos and videos. I am sure we will figure out who that was,” Rejmon wrote to eXtra.cz.

What was the motive for this attack?

The motive for this attack was immediately speculated about on social media. Some Romani social media users believe they clearly received the message, considering the use of white flour to be an unambiguous racist attack.

“Flour is white and Bendig is black. How else are we to explain it, how can it not be about racism?” one Facebook user posted.

“It’s clear this was about racism. The assault was directly on Bendig. That gesture says a lot, to pour flour on a Romani man! Now I’m interested in how that person will be punished,” another posted.

Opinions have also surfaced questioning the entire attack and suspecting that it could have been staged. “It looks weird, as if he was anticipating it. Nothing against him, but that’s actually what it looks like. If not, then the person who poured the flour will be caught by the Police of the Czech Republic and will be punished,” another social media user posted.

We will most probably learn the truth quite soon, because the man in the red jacket committed his attack without wearing any kind of mask in front of dozens of cameras and video cameras. That means very high-quality photographs exist of the assailant and in all probability police can use them to quickly ascertain his identity.

A similar attack happened abroad in 2012. The target that time was Kim Kardashian, who was posing in the London Hotel in Hollywood to promote her new perfume.

A young woman poured a bag of flour over Kardashian. She was arrested shortly thereafter and taken to the police station.