Massachusetts State Police said that a minor sustained non-life-threatening injuries after an altercation in East Boston, but provided no support for claims promoted by Algerian media that the child was attacked by 35 Moroccan football supporters.
Troopers responded shortly before midnight on Monday, June 29, to Pier 1 in East Boston after a person reported an altercation, the force told Hespress English in an emailed statement.
“Although Police did not witness an altercation, they located a person under the age of 18 with non-life-threatening injuries who was transported via EMS to a Boston hospital for evaluation,” the statement said.
State Police said Troop F detectives remained in contact with the minor and his family as the investigation continued.
The police account contrasts with an extensive campaign in Algerian media, where the incident was quickly presented as an organised attack by Moroccan supporters following Morocco’s World Cup match against the Netherlands.
Algerian outlets identified the child as Wassim, a 14-year-old Algerian-American born in Boston, and said he had attended a gathering to watch the match with Moroccan friends.
AL24 News reported that surveillance cameras had identified 35 people suspected of participating in the assault and said they were expected to be referred to judicial authorities. The report did not identify the US police agency, prosecutor or court that supplied the information.
Other reports went further, claiming that the FBI had taken over the investigation and that the alleged attackers faced prison terms of between 20 and 25 years.
Echorouk attributed the FBI claim to an unnamed source. The same report quoted the boy’s uncle as saying no suspects had been arrested and that investigators were still trying to determine the identities of those involved, whose number he said could exceed 35.
Massachusetts State Police did not mention FBI involvement, arrests, surveillance identifications or potential charges in its response.
The case nevertheless rose rapidly to the level of the Algerian presidency.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on July 2 that he was closely following the child’s condition and was in contact with Algeria’s ambassador to the United States and Sports Minister Walid Sadi. He said Wassim had left hospital and had been invited to attend Algeria’s World Cup match against Switzerland.
Algerian diplomatic representatives also contacted the family, according to Algerian reports, while broadcasters carried interviews with relatives and repeated accounts describing the incident as a mass assault by Moroccans.
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