French Police Caught On Camera Brutally Abusing Young Man in Paris
Two law enforcement officers attempting to restrain a young man before one of them violently lifts and throws him to the ground, his head hitting the pavement. These shocking images were filmed on Sunday by the Utopia 56 association, which was accompanying unaccompanied minors being expelled near the Pont Marie in Paris. After witnessing this scene, the association announced that it would take legal action, specifically by contacting the general inspection of the national police (IGPN). Contacted by 20 Minutes, the Paris police prefecture announced that an administrative investigation had been launched “so that the officers are identified and the circumstances of the incident are established.”
“Sunday evening, after the summary expulsion of 200 isolated and homeless teenagers from a small section of sidewalk, these young people were pursued through the streets by the BRAV-M. In this video, one of them is brutally sent to the ground by a police officer. We are taking legal action,” the association wrote in a tweet, while sharing these images:
No information is available on the condition of the young man in question, explains the Utopia 56 association, which claims through its communication officer Nikolaï Posner to be currently “looking for” him.
Psychological Violence
This expulsion by law enforcement had outraged the Utopia 56 association, which deemed it “completely illegal.” “They had been there for weeks, it’s 2 degrees Celsius and they have nowhere to go,” the association tweeted on Sunday. “We’re talking about kids who have just arrived in France without parents and were sleeping.” “The psychological violence inflicted on these young people is unbearable,” the organization added.
“What happened on Sunday is unprecedented, a standard expulsion is anticipated, because usually we are supposed to offer housing solutions, but in this case it was just to clean up the public space, we didn’t expect that at all,” commented Nikolaï Posner to 20 Minutes on Tuesday. He added, “We are led to believe there is an immigration problem when the violence lies in the persecutions, the police are the state’s enforcement arm on these issues. We have young people already in extreme distress who also suffer from the violence of the state through its police.”
According to the association, which is behind an emergency solidarity housing program, the minors have split into small groups, with some now sleeping next to the BHV.
