The city of Paris is finding itself in a state of chaos since news broke of a black man assaulted by French police two weeks ago.

Recounting the incident, Théo, a 22-year-old man said he left his house Thursday and found himself in the middle of a police identity check. These check are used to target drug dealers.

What proceeded was not a standard routine check, Théo’s pants were pulled down and he was sexually assaulted with a truncheon. He was repeatedly beaten on the head and around his genital area; the police also sprayed tear gas around his head and mouth.

Since that time he has undergone emergency surgery for his injuries and has been declared unfit for work for 60 days. Théo is still being hospitalized.

The four police officers involved have all been suspended and an investigation is underway. One has been placed under formal investigation for suspected rape and three others for unnecessary use of force. All deny wrongdoing.

French police are often accused of using excessive force especially against black and minority ethnic suspects.

Photo: French President Francois Hollande visiting Théo in hospital.

Protests have since erupted in Paris with property being destroyed and roads being blocked, prompting Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the education minister to appeal for calm, saying: “Young people’s emotion over the Théo affair is understandable, but we must let justice take its course.” Violence is “unacceptable.”

However, the movement is being sustained across the country, with school protests continuing to happen in a move of solidarity.

“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.”

This past week, the American people saw the highly contested confirmation of Jeff Sessions take place. And it was yesterday that many in the black community, aware of Sessions political ideology were in no way surprised by the three executive orders signed by President Trump.

The newly minted Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice. For those who are unaware, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is a cabinet-level agency responsible for enforcing the laws of the United States federal government. DOJ ensures public safety against foreign and domestic threats, including terrorism, and preventing crime.

The three executive orders will focus on “gang members, drug dealers, drug cartels and crimes against law enforcement officers.” The orders also give more authority to law enforcement.

President Trump referred to these orders as “public safety” orders reducing “the threat of rising crime.” The President then went on to say “I am directing the Department of Justice to reduce crimes and crimes of violence against law enforcement officers.” “It’s a shame, what has been happening to our great, our truly great, law enforcement officers. That is going to stop today.”

During his confirmation ceremony, Sessions said the U.S. has “a crime problem” and then went on to say “I wish the rise that we’re seeing in crime in America today were some sort of aberration or a blip. My best judgement, having been involved in criminal law enforcement for many years, is that this is a dangerous, permanent trend that puts the health and safety of America at risk.”

If one follows current events, the executive orders should not be an absolute shocker. Last week at the beginning of Black History Month, Pastor Darrell Scott in meeting with the President said he met with local gang leaders in Chicago.

“They’re going to commit that if they lower the body count, we come and do some social programs. They want to work with this administration. THEY reached out. I didn’t reach out to them” Scott stated.

It was confirmed later on in the week that the meeting with local gang members never occurred. Scott stated that he had ‘misspoke’ due to lack of sleep.

Nevertheless, those watching closely saw his statement for what it was, a political performance play. Those in the black community were indirectly being told what would happen in our inner cities if crime did not quell. The stage had been set.

The President made reference to “the threat of rising crime” while there has been constant outcry by those in the black community after police shootings of black civilians. President Trump did not mention accountability measures that police should be subject to when speaking of enforcement reform.

In 2016 1,153 people were killed by police, according to KilledByPolice.net.

http://www.killedbypolice.net/kbp2016.html

The President has misrepresented crime statistics before. For example, he was correct when he cited a statistic from the Brennan Center for Justice, which found that, in the largest 30 cities, homicides increased by 14 percent from 2015 to 2016. But in that data set, one outlier city – Chicago – was responsible for 43.7 percent of the total increase in homicide rates in 2016.

These executive orders have a quotidian aura to them. Reminiscent of the time Bill Clinton presided over the largest increase in federal and state prison inmates of any president in American history. Clinton supported the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity for crack versus powder cocaine, which produced staggering racial injustice in sentencing and boosted funding for drug-law enforcement.

Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow explained it perfectly, saying that when Clinton left office in 2001, the United States had the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Human Rights Watch reported that in seven states, African Americans constituted 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison, even though they were no more likely than whites to use or sell illegal drugs. Prison admissions for drug offenses reached a level in 2000 for African Americans more than 26 times the level in 1983. All of the presidents since 1980 have contributed to mass incarceration, but as Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson recently observed, “President Clinton’s tenure was the worst.”

The alarm has been triggered. It is up to us as Americans, especially Black Americans to be vigilant in lieu of these orders and act accordingly. Strategies will be needed on how to combat what is already here and say not this time. WE see you.

Karina Vetrano, 30 was a speech therapist who went for a jog this past summer. She never returned home. Vetrano’s body was bound beaten, strangled and dumped faced down in weeded marshes near her home in Queens, NY. Later through forensic evidence it would be discovered that she had also been sexually assaulted.

Residents of her neighborhood were rightfully outraged by her murder, seeking justice and that whoever did this would be arrested and charged accordingly for the crime.

The perpetrator, Chanel Lewis, was arrested Saturday evening. Lewis admitted to killing Vetrano and submitted a DNA sample upon request; which matched the DNA found on Vetrano’s body. Lewis had no prior criminal background.

Many who are familiar with criminal justice would be wise to think the story would end here, unfortunately it took an unexpected and familial turn.

The story then became one of race, with the media calling Lewis, a black male a ‘Woman-Hating, Demon, Brute.’ These phrases are not just name calling; they have important and historical reference when referring to black men specifically in America. For many the case has become racialized—an accused Black man and white female victim have created a slippery slope. The suspect will face his time in court and pay for what he has done, however, for the media to slip into racial verbiage is unnecessary and unprofessional.

The media should not be reductive in its thoughts to see this as solely a black vs white issue; because it is not. This is about a man who committed a crime against an unsuspected victim, whose life was taken. America has had a history of demonizing the black male specifically through media, often unjustly. The Justice system must be allowed to do what it is supposed to do, which is hold all irrespective of ethnic group accountable for crimes they may or may not have committed. Media must stop reverting to the race card when convenient for those in the dominant society to fit an untrue stereotypical image of how they perceive blackness, a convenience that has proven to have disastrous effects for black Americans when left unchecked.