The video of the confrontation:
It seems like France has not gotten any better…
A video surfaced this weekend of a physical altercation between the French police and activists. With nearly three million views, this video has become a focal point for the anti-police sentiment in France. Over the course of the Gilet Jaune protests, a myriad of violent videos came to light, but it seems that sixty weeks has not been enough time for a decline in violence and easing of tensions. That, in essence, is the most jarring part about this entire situation. It was unsettling, but not surprising, to hear of violence in the opening weeks of this movement, when entire French cities were being destroyed by a subsect of the protestors. But now, seeing a video of a man being singled out and beaten by police, it feels as if it has gone on too long.
I implore everyone to watch the video for themselves before reading my analysis of it, as to not taint your perception of the events. The following, however, is an objective description of what occurred:
The video begins with a riot officer walking towards a line of protesters standing against a shop front. The officer is pointing at a man and looking back towards another officer who seems to be giving him directions, shouting, “A gauche, a gauche!” Upon hearing this, the original officer points to the protester to the left of him and the second officer charges the same man. The man raises his hands and the second officer initiates a takedown as the original officer strikes the man with a kick to the groin area. The statement offered after by French police cites that the man who was struck by police had been sighted throwing rocks at riot officers earlier that day. The security forces asserted that the man had fled police capture, as he had thrown rocks at them, which is an arrestable offence in France, and that this video omits the context which justifies the violent action.
Now my analysis will begin, so make sure you have watched the video to your satisfaction.
This seems credible to some degree. I say this because the officers clearly did not choose the man at random, the original officers was clearly receiving directions from the second officer as his shouting “A gauche” was a command to select the man to the left of the one to which original officer was already pointing. It is evident that there was a purposeful search going on that was initiated prior to the assembling of the protestors in a line. Whether or not this man was guilty of throwing rocks earlier in the day, I do not think the violent takedown is excusable. The man raised his hands; however, it seems he only took a defensive position after the second officer charged him. There is no evidence of a peaceful attempt to arrest this unarmed man. I do not believe that it is unreasonable for a man, guilty or innocent of prior crimes, to be defensive when charged at. There was no attempt by the security forces to initiate a peaceful arrest once the suspect had been sighted. I know in the United States this man would have a very strong case to make against the police on the grounds of excessive force.
France on Fire 