Paris police officers suspended over beating of black music producer

Michel filed a complaint against the police on Thursday

(AFP via Getty Images)

Three French police officers have been suspended after a video emerged of them beating up a black music producer in Paris, triggering renewed anger against security forces who were seen violently breaking up a migrant camp earlier this week.

The CCTV footage, published online by news site Loopsider, shows the police kicking, punching and beating the man, named only as Michel, with their batons. The producer said he was also racially abused during the beating.

Michel was initially stopped for not wearing a face mask, according to the same news site.

Police charged the producer with violence and resisting arrest, but prosecutors dismissed the charges and instead started an investigation against the officers.

President Emmanuel Macron said he was “very shocked" by the images, according to French news channel BFM TV.

Arriving at the police station on Thursday with his lawyer to launch a complaint, Michel told the press: "People who should have been protecting me attacked me. I did nothing to deserve this. I just want these three people to be punished according to the law."

Ça s'est passé samedi à Paris. 15 minutes de coups et d'insultes racistes.

La folle scène de violences policières que nous révélons est tout simplement inouie et édifiante.

Il faut la regarder jusqu'au bout pour mesurer toute l'ampleur du problème. pic.twitter.com/vV00dOtmsg

— Loopsider (@Loopsidernews) November 26, 2020

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said she was "profoundly shocked" by the "intolerable act", while Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he would push for the officers' dismissal, saying they had "soiled the uniform of the republic".

French footballers and other athletes condemned the incident, with Kylian Mbappe writing on Twitter: "Unbearable video, unacceptable violence. Say no to racism", while Antoine Griezmann tweeted “I hurt for my France”.

The attack is the latest incident to provoke outcry against the French police, after videos showed officers violently clearing a migrant camp in Paris on Monday.

Mr Darmanin, who has often downplayed accusations of police brutality, acknowledged the scenes were “shocking”.

“Certain images of the dispersal of the illegal migrant camp on Place de la République are shocking,” he tweeted late on Monday, adding that he wanted a report from the Paris police chief on his desk by lunchtime the next day.

The incident also comes as the French government tries to introduce controversial legislation restricting filming of police on duty – a law that opponents say would have prevented both these incidents from being made public.

Article 24 of the bill makes it a criminal offence to share images of security forces online which target them as individuals, with penalties of a year in prison or a fine of up to €45,000 (£40,000).

The proposed legislation triggered protests in the capital and other French cities on Saturday, with rights campaigners and journalists taking to the streets against the security bill that they say would be a violation of the freedom of information.

Following backlash from critics who argue it will undermine the media's power to hold police accountable, the government added an amendment saying the article "will only target the dissemination of images clearly aimed at harming a police officer's or soldier's physical or psychological integrity".

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