Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Sorbonne Professor Attacked by Police

News of a brutal police attack in Paris against Sorbonne University professor Guillaume Vadot went viral last Friday after his colleague Guillaume Mazeau posted a statement on Facebook.

Marisela Trevin

September 29, 2016
Facebook Twitter Share

Photo: Révolution Permanente

I’m going to rape you, then we’ll see if you keep filming the police.

News of a brutal police attack in Paris against Sorbonne University professor Guillaume Vadot went viral last Friday after his colleague Guillaume Mazeau posted a statement on Facebook. Vadot, a 28-year-old professor and researcher at Sorbonne University, has since broken anonymity to draw attention to increasing violence perpetrated by police in recent months.

I believe what happened is common. What’s not common is that it happened to me.

Facebook subsequently censored the post, but the entire description of events can be found on Mediapart’s website. According to Mazeau, on Thursday at about 8 pm, Vadot was exiting the RER D-train on his way home after a meeting when he saw a woman of color in handcuffs, crying out in pain as she was pressed against a wall by police officers who had detained her because she did not have a ticket. Vadot began to film the intervention with his phone—this had become an automatic response after having participated in several protests against the labor reform as a member of the Courant Communiste Révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Communist Current) of the NPA (New Anticapitalist Party).

After less than a minute of filming the scene, Vadot was approached by two police officers who took him aside, snatched the phone from him and pinned him against the wall. The police threatened him repeatedly: “I’ll kill you right there, on the spot, in ten minutes…We’re going to rape you. Do you like that? I’m going to rape you and then we’ll see if you continue to film the police.”

One of the officers groped Vadot. Anti-gay slurs and ISIS references were thrown at him: “Do you support ISIS? Is that it? What are you going to do when they come here? Suck them off?” Afterwards, having seen his university identification card, they sneered, “You’re a professor? When the Islamic State comes to the Sorbonne, are you going to watch them while you jerk off?”

Later, Vadot realized that the police mentioned ISIS to justify their abuse of the woman who had forgotten her train pass. A taser gun was eventually was fired at the professor, with continued threats: “We’re going to go to the Sorbonne and we’re going to exterminate you and your colleagues, you dirty leftist.” They carefully deleted the videos on the phone before leaving, but Vadot managed to recover the footage. The video however does not contain the threats or acts of violence to him, as the camera had already been turned off by police.

We can’t keep letting this happen

On Friday, the testimony of this incident had been shared so many times in social media that the Minister of Interior contacted Guillaume Mazeau to persuade his colleague to file a report with the General Inspector of the national police force, “the police of police.” Vadot eventually decided to bring the case before the Human Rights Defender and to file a report for abuse of power, willful acts of violence, sexual assault, rape threats and injuries.

This was announced in a press conference offered by Vadot last Monday, which was followed live on Twitter and attended by reporters from France Info, France Inter, Europe 1, Buzzfeed, Libération, Le Monde, Médiapart, Konbini, Tétu, Collectif Quoi ma Geule, and Révolution Permanente, a publication of which Vadot is an editorial committee member.

conf.jpg
Press Conference, Photo: Révolution Permanente

According to Slim Ben Achour, Vadot’s attorney, these proceedings have become necessary as a result of recent events, such the death of Adama Traoré, a young black man who died in police custody near Paris in July 2016 and the union member who lost an eye during a protest against the labor reform on September 15, 2015: “These violent practices take place in total obscurity and with total impunity.”

As Vadot has mentioned several times, he not only wishes to draw attention to his own case, but primarily “to all those who are subjected to this kind of brutality within this context.” He stated that the attack perpetrated against him is “the result of the laws and regulations put in place in the past few months,” which have given the police a sense of impunity. He goes on to say, “We cannot consider this to be normal,” and above all, “we are not going to get used to it.”

Facebook Twitter Share

Europe

Fact Check: Did German Leftists Try to Bomb West Berlin’s Jewish Community Center in 1969?

Answer: No. The bombing was undertaken by West Germany’s domestic secret service, originally founded by Nazis.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 29, 2023
Tombstones in Germany defaced with Swasticas.

“Stop Thief!” The German State Attacks Migrants to Distract from Its Own Antisemitism

German politicians claim that antisemitism is an “imported problem.” Even a cursory look at the facts, however, shows that anti-Jewish hatred is not caused by pro-Palestinian protests. No, the source is German capitalism.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 21, 2023

Competing Rallies at Berlin’s Free University

On successive Fridays, there was a pro-Palestinian and a pro-Israeli rally at the Free University. One was dominated by international students, including many Jews and Palestinians, calling for solidarity — the other was dominated by German politicians spewing racism. Guess which was which.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 13, 2023

In Berlin, Jews and Palestinians Are Demonstrating Together

This Saturday, Jewish and Palestinian groups are organizing a demonstration against the war.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 4, 2023

MOST RECENT

Protesters in NYC for Palestinian liberation.

Uniting Workers for Palestine Is a Fight for the Future of Labor

The struggle for Palestine shows the potential for the rank and file to push unions to break with imperialism and to build a new, combative, and internationalist unionism.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

November 27, 2023
Haverford College student Kinnan Abdalhamid and Brown University students Tahseen Ahmed and Hisham Awartani, Palestinian college students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont.

Haverford Faculty for Justice in Palestine Releases Statement Supporting Pro-Palestinian Students

Haverford College Faculty for Justice in Palestine have published a statement following the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont.

A Pause in Genocide Is Not Enough: Jewish Voice for Peace Shuts Down the Manhattan Bridge

Amid a pause in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace is showing that the movement for Palestine will continue. Civil disobedience must lead to broad protests which bring all sectors of the movement together.

Samuel Karlin

November 26, 2023
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed wearing Keffiyes. They were shot in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

The Three Palestinians Shot in Burlington Are Victims of Rising Islamophobia

Three Palestinian men were shot in Burlington Vermont while walking down the street. The campaign against Palestine has dehumanized all Palestinians and left them more vulnerable to these types of attacks.

Enid Brain

November 26, 2023