Police all over the world are going through a crisis where the real faces of police brutality and abuse are now making their way to online spaces. Even though stories of police brutality are not really uncommon, especially in the context of this year, however, seeing evidence through video clips can leave any noraml person shocked and concerned over their safety too.
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This year seems like the year where all the brutalities of police globally are finally coming to the light. We always assumed that police are for the protection of the public, keeping their safety first in every situation. However, the happenings of this year made us realize that perhaps it is the police we need to be most careful of.
Recently a video posted online has taken the internet by storm as it shows the blatant abuse of power by four French police officers who are beating a black man so mercilessly that it will shake you to the core.
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The video which has now gone viral has left people in shock and the police officers who committed this cruel act are suspended and under custody now. The action came after an outcry from the French public who were horrified by the clip.
Not so surprisingly, it also comes on the heels of some rather controversial legal action that the government is trying to take to restrict how police are filmed. Apparently, those in power always want to cover and protect themselves, knowing very well the impact it would create once the public gets to know about all their stories of abuse of power.
After this horrifying incident, naturally many people are opposing the bill, saying that it would shield police brutality.
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In the recent happening of police brutality, police saw 41-year old Michel Zecler, walking without a mask. Given the situation of a pandemic where the mask is now mandatory at most public places, police followed him. He attempted to walk into his music studio and police burst in and started beating him with their fists and a billy club.
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Seeing the disturbing happening, many people in the building stepped forward to help Zecler however, it appears that the police was not done with him and they still went out and threw a teargas container through a window to force him to leave.
What the police at that time didn't realize was that each and every action of cruelty was being recorded through the surveillance camera of the building.
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The video was posted on social media by Loopsider, a French digital news outlet, and has been viewed more than 8 million times.
The video went viral and in their defense, the police officers said that he resisted arrest and tried to take their weapons. Zecler had already spent two days in jail.
In an interview with Loopsider Zecler said, "I thought it was my last day,"
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French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on a news broadcast Thursday that the officers had "sullied the uniform of the Republic" and would be fired.
However, he defended French police in general, arguing that the vast majority of security forces act professionally. Darmanin said there are fewer than 10,000 incidents flagged every year out of a total of roughly 3 million police operations.
An editorial in influential daily Le Monde said on Friday it's too late for the interior minister to simply find the video "shocking." The newspaper said he must address the grave leadership crisis within the French police and called for an immediate withdrawal of the controversial security bill.