When we hear of the”#BlackLivesMatter” movement, we usually think of the peaceful yet powerful protests spanning all of America, from New York City to Ferguson, Missouri. We think of hard-hitting slam poems, rally cries and raised fists in the streets of American suburbs. It doesn’t take a genius to know police brutality is not unique to solely America, but did you know France is having it’s own #BlackLivesMatter movement right now? Just this week, hundreds marched in the Northern France’s suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois, all in the name of a young man who was beaten and raped by police.
Theo, a 22 year-old black youth worker was persecuted by five officers who claim he “resisted arrest”. Upon his resistance, the officers turned to tear gas and expandable batons, AlJazeera reports. It was one expandable baton that Theo was reportedly raped with, and as a result the man suffered severe anal injuries which required surgery. He also suffered head and face injuries.
Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux stated on Sunday, February 5th, that all five officers involved in the debacle were suspended until the conclusion of the investigation. #BlackLivesMatters protestors circled up around the suburb of France to protest and support Leo in any way they could. By yesterday, Thursday, February 9th, the investigation was finished.
The French police did not present justice, as most forces rarely do in the tragic cases which prompt #BlackLivesMatter. Instead, the French police said the raping and abuse of Theo was an accident. AlJazeera reports:
According to AFP news agency, a police source said that having taken into account CCTV recordings and witness accounts, “there are insufficient elements to show that this was a rape.” A video of the scene shows a policeman “applying a truncheon blow horizontally across the buttocks with a truncheon” and Theo’s trousers “slipped down on their own”, the source said.
While the case is still ongoing and three out of the five officers have been charged, it is still disturbing for the French police to defend themselves from such an immoral act by claiming it was an “accident”. On February 20th, a French judge will decide whether the accused policemen will face trial, and protestors are not backing down, either. Hundreds of people are planning on protesting outside the court in which the officers are set to be judged, coining the movement, “#JusticeForTheo”. Many have also taken to twitter with the same hashtag, spreading the leaked video which supposedly depicts the terrible abuse of the 22 year old.
This is not the first act of police brutality in France, either. Just this past July a 24 year old black man named Adama Traore was killed by police on his birthday. Traore and his brother were approached by two police officers searching for suspects in a case, and when they asked for the two men’s IDs, Traore fled. He did not have his ID on him, but he wasn’t planning on going to jail for that small offense, either. He was eventually caught and detained by the two officers, pushed into a police car to be driven to a nearby station. According to Slate, it was then when Traore was experiencing breathing problems. At least, that’s what the French news reported until evidence surfaced showing Traore died of asphyixation, meaning he was suffocated. A firefighter who had been on the scene explained that “his team found Traore face down on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back, not breathing. The firefighter asked the officers to take the handcuffs off Traore, but the officers simply claimed that Traore was “faking” and too “violent” to be uncuffed. He couldn’t breathe, but the officers ignored him. Sound familiar?
Overall, France has suffered several tragic incidents of police brutality specifically targeted at people of color. Adama Traore was not spared, but Theo luckily is still alive today despite undeserving injuries and truama. It is important to stay educated on world matters regarding suppression, for #BlackLivesMatter is not solely an American problem, but a world problem. You can spread Theo’s message in hopes of attaining justice by hashtagging, #JusticeForTheo.
