At the hands of French police, a 22-year-old black man, identified as Théo, sustained anal injuries so severe that he required emergency surgery. Théo admits his injuries occurred after he confronted police after witnessing them slap a youth while conducting an identity check. He alleges that police took him around a corner where they beat his genitals, spit on him, and sodomized him with a truncheon.
French investigators describe the incident, not the vicious rape that it was, but merely as an “accident.”
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ac·ci·dent ˈaksədənt/ noun
Apparently, after speaking to the victim, suspects, and witnesses, as well as viewing CCTV evidence, they concluded the officers involved did not intend to sodomize him. Instead, they surmised that Théo’s pants “slipped down on their own” and the anal penetration was accidental.
Now, look. I haven’t reviewed the evidence. I haven’t interviewed any of the parties in this case. I don’t pretend to know exactly what went on here.
Still, I can state unequivocally that “it was an accident” is a lie and not even a good one.
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I was raised to believe that the police are good people who have dedicated their lives to protect other people—like Théo, like you, like me—from those people who would seek to do us harm.
By definition, they are not supposed to BE the people who would harm us.
To a large extent, I still believe that to be true. I know these officers do not represent the majority of police officers, French or otherwise. In fact, that’s EXACTLY why I am so incensed at the temerity required to categorize this event as accidental.
These are not police officers—they are thugs wearing a uniform. Presenting this ridiculous lie to excuse this abhorrent behavior is an insult to every good officer who wears that same uniform.
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There are anomalies in every group. To state that the sodomy of this young man—so severely that he required emergency surgery for his wounds—was accidental implies these deplorable men are not anomalies, but rather the norm.
I know it’s hard to believe that any man would commit this depraved act against another man. This is not the first time (see also: Sayreville). Men do this to other men; denial doesn’t make this not so.
I understand that French authorities are ashamed of these men—as they should be—but they cannot absolve themselves of that shame by lying about it.
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This is why people are rioting in the streets. This is why people, in particular people of color, are fearful of the police. Not because this event and others like it have occurred, but because they occurred and then the people in charge of holding the police accountable for their actions said those actions were acceptable.
There are lines even the police should not cross.