Assassination of Paweł Adamowicz


– former mayor of Gdańsk – was murdered during the most popular volunteer event in Poland – Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. The incident took place on 13 January 2019 on Targ Węglowy in the city of Gdańsk, Poland.

Assassination

During the 27th Final of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity in Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz was standing on the stage among others. The attacker illegally got on stage and stabbed him three times. Then Stefan Wilmont said:
"Halo! Halo! Nazywam się Stefan Wilmont. Siedziałem niewinny w więzieniu. Siedziałem niewinny w więzieniu. Platforma Obywatelska mnie torturowała. Dlatego właśnie zginął Adamowicz"
English translation:
"Halo! Halo! My name is Stefan Wilmont. I had been in prison innocently. I had been in prison innocently. Civic Platform was torturing me. That's why Adamowicz was killed"
After his speech, technical workers overpowered the attacker. Paweł Adamowicz died in hospital the next day.

The attacker

The attacker was a recidivist. At the moment of the incident he was 27 years old. As a teenager he had already problems with the law, and he robbed a bank a few times. Before the assassination of Adamowicz, he had been in prison.

Mourning

Days after incident, The President of Poland Andrzej Duda established a national mourning on the day of the funeral of Adamowicz. A national mourning was set from 18 to 19 January 2019.
Vice-mayor of Gdańsk Aleksandra Dulkiewicz and Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski made a decision to set mournings in Gdańsk and Warsaw.
The day following the assassination, the leader of Civic Platform Grzegorz Schetyna asked the Marshall of Sejm to celebrate a minute of silence during the parliament session.
In many Polish cities events were held where citizens could sign a collective book of condolences for Adamowicz's family.