Alleged police beating of Black man angers French
French authorities have suspended police officers accused of assaulting and racially abusing a Black man in Paris, after CCTV footage of the incident was released and caused an outcry.
The music producer, who has identified himself as Michel, was beaten at the entrance to his studio.
French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted by France's BFM TV as being "very shocked" by the CCTV and mobile phone images, which were obtained by the LoopSider news outlet and made headline news on French channels.
The officers involved were suspended pending investigation at the interior minister's request.
Michel told reporters he'd been walking in the street without a face mask, against French COVID-19 rules.
When he saw a police car he went into his studio to avoid getting a fine. But the police followed him inside and arrested him, violently.
The video purports to show them kicking and beating him, and he says they hurled racial abuse at him too.
They then leave, and throw a tear gas canister into the studio.
As anger grew, French soccer stars added to the chorus of condemnation. Kylian Mbappe tweeted that the video was "intolerable" and his fellow Les Bleus striker, Antoine Griezmann wrote: "My France is hurting."
The alleged attack on Michel risks inflaming racial tension, and fuelling criticism of a draft law that would limit journalists' ability to show images of French police officers at work.
The prime minister's office said on Thursday (November 26) it would set up an independent commission to propose a new draft of the legislation.
Some "BlackLivesMatter" protests broke out in Paris in June, a month after the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in the United States.
The movement resonates in France, in particular in deprived city suburbs, where rights groups say accusations of police brutality, often against people with immigrant backgrounds, remain largely unaddressed.
And Paris police were already under fire this week after social media photos and videos showed officers hitting protesters as they cleared out an illegal migrants campsite in a central Paris square.
