A new demonstration took place yesterday in Paris, where more than 200 police officers protested charges of violence and racism.
It was in front of the Bataclan room in Paris that hundreds of police gathered this Friday June 27 in the evening. According to AFP, dozens of vans, motorcycles and cars blocked the street in front of the emblematic concert hall and became a vibrant symbol of the 2015 attacks. Some were in civilian clothes, others were wearing their uniforms. It was in unison that they sang La Marseillaise. All these police officers wanted to protest the accusations of violence, hatred and racism. We can especially hear an officer in a video declare: "We refute the accusations of violence and pseudo-racism." also denouncing a lack of support from the Minister of the Interior: "Our hierarchy lets us go on pasture on the public highway. (…) They ask us for a lot of things, they don't give us means and after they spit on us. (…) We want to take away the throttle key , but what is the alternative? If we do it on someone, it is because that person is not very docile. "
It is hard to understand having been acclaimed at the time of the attacks and being singled out for today.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has faced the anger of the police since he spoke on June 8. He announced the end of the "strangulation technique" in training for law enforcement. During a trip to the national police academy in Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d'Or, the minister nevertheless insisted on Friday on the support he brings to the police: "We will be there to defend your honor every time it is attacked. You are not alone."
Some journalists on site during the demonstration organized by the police noticed the presence of other demonstrators in yellow vests claiming, on the contrary, "real police in the service of the people." Most had no hesitation in coming up with photos of alleged victims of police violence. Two biases thus faced each other yesterday in Paris, relaunching the debate on the role of the police in the safety of civilians. It is not the first time that police have demonstrated to protest accusations of violence and racism. For several weeks, many of them have been gathering, often with handcuff deposits as a symbolic protest. This Friday evening marked the fourteenth consecutive evening of a police rally.