The audio clip of more than 20 minutes was discreetly recorded by one member of a group of seven people arrested on Monday, March 20, at the corner of Rue des Minimes and Rue du Béarn in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, during a protest against France's pension reform. Featuring slaps, sexual remarks, threats and boasts, this recording, which Le Monde was able to authenticate, sheds a harsh light on the behavior of police officers, in total contradiction with their ethical rules and with the law.
That evening, several acts of vandalism were committed in the vicinity, during a night of protest against the government's use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution on March 16 to pass the pension reform without a vote. Protestors have become accustomed to dispersing into small groups and setting fire to garbage cans, and direct confrontations with the police are rather rare. But called upon to arrest rioters, a unit of the Motorized Brigades for the Repression of Violent Action (BRAV-M) managed to apprehend half a dozen young people, though, for the time being, it is not possible to establish whether they were involved in the vandalism incidents.
A photo taken on the spot shows about 15 officers, recognizable in particular thanks to their white motorcycle helmets and their usual attire that borrows as much from the Robocop-type uniform of CRS riot police as from the gear of any motorcyclist. Several young people, sitting on the sidewalk with their backs to the front of a vacant business, were surrounded by these officials, who made comments and behaved in a way that could lead to criminal prosecution. They especially targeted one young man, "the only Black man in the group," according to one of the young men they questioned. Several of them did not know each other before this incident.
"You know you really have a slappable face?" a policeman says to him, while in the background, there are voices demanding clarification on the number of people stopped. "If you want, I'll take you alone," continues the policeman, before instructing the young man to remain silent. When the young man tries to respond, the police officer says, "Shut the fuck up."
'Wipe that smile off your face'
The words of several officers using the same tone are clearly audible, and leave no room for doubt as to their status. They alternate between threats, intimidation, small talk about the boxing skills of those arrested and warlike boasts. Five minutes and forty seconds into the recording, one of the police officers says: "You're so lucky to be sitting there, now that we've arrested you. I swear, I'd have broken your legs, literally. I can tell you, we've broken elbows and faces (...) but you, I'd have broken your legs."
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