French prosecutors are investigating an incident of police brutality caught on video, where a police officer is seen repeatedly beating a black woman with his baton and spraying her point-blank in the face with some form of pepper spray or tear gas.
The video entitled “Honte à la police française” (“Shame on the French police”), which was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, had been watched over a million times by Tuesday afternoon.
The incident has reportedly been referred to the IGPN, the French police oversight arm, with investigators looking into the case to determine whether the policemen involved should face prosecution.
According to La Nouvelle Republique, the incident occurred when a drunk driver of a car refused to take a breathalyser test at around 07:00 in a suburb of Tours. The police then attempt to subdue the man by holding him on the ground, and according to “police sources” the woman allegedly bit on of the officers repeatedly which is why he responded as he did on the video.
Both the man and woman involved in the incident were then taken to the police station.
