Sasha Sacayán, a leader of the Anti-Discrimination Liberation Movement (MAL ), an organization for the rights of trans and travesti people founded by her sister Diana, says: “We were able to observe the entire operation. There were no disturbances from those of us who were there. Nothing was broken. The media focused on cheap sensationalism when the ‘provocative fanatic’ Ignacio Agustín Montangut appeared. He was neither so fanatical nor so innocent. We managed to remove him from the scene so he wouldn’t become a victim.” After marching in a trans/travesti column alongside the organizations MAL, Mocha Celis, and Hotel Gondolin, chanting “without trans women, there is no ‘Not One Less’,” we arrived at the plaza with a touch of nostalgia for our comrades who are no longer with us, especially remembering Diana Sacayán. We stayed with Alma Fernández, lying down next to the Cathedral. As the different columns arrived with their typical and historic chants, we joined in from the ground. Until we got more and more fired up and started chanting: “Church, trash, you are the dictatorship” and “I knew it, I knew it, that the police protect rapists and murderers.” It was certainly a form of protest. What I mean is that there were no disturbances from those of us who were there. The Cathedral wasn't vandalized, much less set on fire. The only fire was a cardboard box in the middle of the street. Yes, from those bodies—mostly trans people, lesbians, and women—we were waving, singing, and dancing. Until at one point the police started firing tear gas and rubber bullets, which hit many of our comrades.

Neither so fanatical nor so provocative

When the chants joined our bodies—and everything was so fervent—the media swarmed like ants, chasing cheap sensationalism, more useful than ever to this government. And it was precisely then, coincidentally, that the “provocative fanatic” Ignacio Agustín Montagut appeared, waving a Vatican flag. The Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) denounced him as “an employee of Patricia Bullrich” and a member of Bandera Vecinal (Alejandro Biondini’s neo-Nazi party). So he wasn’t so fanatical or so innocent, but rather another cog in the machine of this police operation. That day, we could see it clearly from the very beginning. And we managed to remove him from the scene so he wouldn’t become a victim. Ignacio Agustín Montagut Nothing that happened there was accidental. These people are organized, prepared for these demonstrations. Especially to target trans people, lesbians, and women. Because there's an added element: hatred of identity and gender. Because their aim is not only to chase us from the plaza, shoot us with rubber bullets, or beat us, but also to imprison us and frame us. "This is how they begin to present themselves to the media to justify their actions." We could clearly see the coordinated operation: the police chased us, the riot police repressed us, and then the arrests followed. That's how they start presenting it to the media to later justify all their actions. [READ MORE: Police repress lesbians after the #8M march in Buenos Aires ] This caused confusion and delayed information about those detained and their release. Of course, the justice system did its job. My comrades were charged with assault, battery, and resisting arrest. Nothing was broken, and no police officer was injured. None of those detained were in Plaza de Mayo at that moment. They were eating or walking home, but civilians and uniformed officers chased them for four blocks around. I hadn't seen anything like this in a long time.

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