Student protesters are clashing with police in Paris on Thursday after the alleged rape of a young black man by an officer in early February.
Hundreds of students blocked school entrances and marched after police said that an initial inquiry into the incident, which resulted in severe anal injuries and head trauma, showed “insufficient elements to show that this was a rape.”
The school protests are the latest in a series of solidarity protests across the country.
“The climate in France is becoming more and more worrying,” Independent Counter-Struggle Movement, a youth group that organized the protest on Facebook, said in a statement. “A great mobilization of youth is more than necessary to counter the security and racist climate.”
Here’s a look at what’s happening in Paris:
On Thursday, students clashed with French police during an anti-brutality protest in Paris.
The protests started after Théo, a 22-year-old youth worker whose last name has not been released, received severe anal injuries and head trauma caused by a truncheon during a police encounter. Theo has said the officers sodomized him with the truncheon, spat on him, and beat him around the genitals.
Anti-police brutality protests have roiled Paris for the last two weeks. They began again after an initial police investigation found "insufficient elements" to conclude that Theo was raped.
Protesters blockaded the entrances to 16 Parisian high schools on Thursday, preventing students and teachers from entering.
Many students voiced solidarity on Twitter with the hashtags #JusticePourTheo and #BlocusPourTheo (Block for Theo).
Police arrested 11 protesters after some students set fire to garbage cans. The protests have remained mostly peaceful however.
French police have used tear gas to disperse protesters and posted on Twitter that people should not participate in undeclared protests. Journalists and students have accused the police of excessive force on Twitter.
Les grenades lacrymos explosent dans tous les sens à Nation pour le rassemblement lycéen #JusticePourTheo #blocuspourtheo pic.twitter.com/HUQU5lOVqj
— Cyril Castelliti (@CyrilCastelliti) February 23, 2017
The incident is not the first to rock police in France. Last summer, 24-year-old Adama Traoré died while in police custody. Like in the US, the French public is starting to speak out against the incidents of police brutality against young black men in Paris on Thursday, February 23.
