Two police officers who were part of the crew who sprayed a man with tear gas without reason at Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis) have been suspended, we learned on Tuesday from a police source, confirming information from Parisian. The broadcast on social networks of a video of this scene which took place on the night of July 14 to 15 at Le Bourget had led the Paris police headquarters to seize the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) .
“Officials once identified will be suspended,” warned the police headquarters in a statement. The IGPN was also seized of a criminal investigation for “violence with a weapon by a person holding public authority”, by the public prosecutor of Bobigny.
Doused at close range
In the video, a police vehicle can be seen backing up, then stopping at the height of a man, standing on the sidewalk, with bags in his hands. A member of the crew then sprays him at point-blank range with tear gas. The police car then restarts, and drives away along a one-way street, leaving the man alone screaming on the sidewalk, before collapsing to the ground.
The two identified and suspended police officers are attached to the Epinay-sur-Seine police station and had come as reinforcements for urban violence, a police source added. According The Parisianthe victim, a man in his forties, is homeless.