France: Rallies condemn cop rape assault

Christophe Saidi/Sipa via AP Images

Hundreds of high school students in Paris walked out and blocked entrances to over a dozen schools Feb. 23, part of continuing protests against police abuse of 22-year-old Theo L. who was raped with a police baton three weeks earlier. The students marched to the Place de la Nation in eastern Paris to rally, above. Police helicopters hovered overhead, dropping tear gas on the protesters.

Theo, a Black man whose full name has not been publicly released, was first ordered to show his ID and then assaulted by cops in the Parisian suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois. The incident, part of which was caught on CCTV, has sparked protests in suburbs across France. The police inflicted such severe wounds to Theo’s rectum that he required major emergency surgery. With injuries also to his head, he remains in a hospital and was declared incapacitated for 60 days.

The attack shined a spotlight on the abysmal living and working conditions confronting workers in these suburban towns, including many immigrants of African origin. Official unemployment rates are 27 percent compared to 10 percent for the rest of the country.

An internal police review said Theo’s wounds, including a 2.5-inch tear in his anus, was “accidental.” But under pressure from the public outcry, one officer has been charged with rape and three others with aggravated assault.

— BRIAN WILLIAMS