"Violence by SNCF agents" on a train? Back to a viral video

• SNCF railway security officers were filmed "beating" the passenger of a train between Marseille and Nice because he was not wearing a mask?
• This is claimed by several tweets or Facebook posts sharing the same video, showing a man being subdued by two of these agents while one of their colleagues is trying to prevent a videographer from filming the scene.
• 20 Minutes looks back at the course of events.

Clearly visible through the glass door of the train in which the scene is filmed, two agents of the internal security service of the SNCF are trying to subdue a black man who struggles by shouting "Let go of me! », While a third colleague blocks access to this platform located between two cars.

An extract from the viral video filmed on a Marseille-Nice train. - screenshot / Facebook

If several people remain impassive, a female voice is indignant at this question: "They take him by the balls!" […] OK, I want him to provoke them, but what is this barbarity? We are in France! An observation not shared by another traveler, who is heard repeatedly nuancing the reaction of the woman, in particular by saying: "You were not there at the start. Or, to the attention of the videographer who is trying to capture the scene: "You only film the end, it is he who shouts. "

And while the man being immobilized is moved from one part of the platform to the other, where he finds himself held against the wall by the two agents, their colleague opens the door to launch at the person filming : "It's good, you [have] enough for Video gag? The sequence ends on the platform of a station, where the man arrested is lying on his stomach and surrounded by railway security agents, while the train leaves with the videographer on board.

On Facebook, this video presented as "violence by SNCF agents" in a train running between Marseille and Nice has accumulated more than 192,000 views in just over 24 hours and has aroused strong reactions - especially on the question of whether a railway security officer can prevent travelers from filming on a train.

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Before being resumed on Facebook on Monday, the images were first posted on Twitter by a user, Sunday afternoon, in the form of two separate tweets: the first with the sequence on the train , and the second accompanied by the video showing the man lying on the platform.

all that for an unworn mask .. or that there were "white" people on the train without! #BlackLivesMattters pic.twitter.com/I9faJYTSe6

"All this for an unworn mask ... but there were" white "people on the train without! », He said in a comment, eliciting less than a hundred views. It was not until these two videos were tweeted by a second user that the images became viral, with more than 26,000 retweets and 32,000 “likes”.

So if you don't have a mask on the train it ends like that? Do you deserve to be treated like that? @SNCF pic.twitter.com/EEY2xZsqta

Contacted by 20 Minutes , Alexandre, the author of the video, explains to us: "It was Sunday [June 14] on a train which left from Marseille and went to Nice, I took it at the Arcs-Draguignan stop between 1:20 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. ”. The SNCF confirms for its part that the images were indeed shot "in the TER 17483 which ensured the relationship between Marseille and Nice Sunday, June 14. "

"Where's your mask?" "

What exactly happened before the viral streak started? “The railway security team made a round trip in our wagon. On the outward journey, there was no problem. When they returned, when they returned, some white people who did not have a mask had a simple call to order since their stop was coming and they were not going to get them down and fine them for that, ”says Alexandre.

"When the agents got out of our wagon and arrived at the platform, there was nobody except this black man, with dreadlocks,who didn't have a mask. […] Before that, the security officers did not check any tickets. When they saw him without a mask, they asked him directly for his ticket when the controller had already come to check them between Marseille and Toulon and he had already shown his, his youth card was on his phone. Except that there he had no battery left. So he said to the agents: "My phone has no battery left, I can't show it to you" and they asked him cash: "Where's your mask? Your mask! Your mask!" ", He continues.

And to add: "Since we know very well that on this line there are a lot of illegal immigrants [from Ventimiglia] who pass by, they asked him for his identity card, he said to them:" No problem, I'm showing it to you "and suddenly it went up in pressure. They jumped on him, they caught him by the balls, they beat him up. "

A complaint "for forgery and use of forgery in public writing" against the agents

Contacted by 20 Minutes , Zia Oloumi, the young man's lawyer, added: “He had his ticket, a youth card subscription, he had already been checked before. He also had his identity card on him and he had gotten up a bit before going down to Antibes to give up his place in a square of four for a lady with three children mounted in Cannes. "

For its part, the SNCF indicates that "during the check, the person was not able to present a ticket and was not wearing a mask, mandatory in the context of compliance with the health rules related to Covid-19 under penalty a fine of 135 euros ”. “In light of the above facts and in application of the texts, this person was asked to leave the train at the first stop station. This person refused this injunction which initially wanted to be non-binding, "adds the company, while stressing that" this control was carried out within a legal framework "and that" the professional gestures were respected ".

If the description of the job of railway security agent by SNCF specifies that it involves "deterring damage and malicious acts" by their "presence", these men and women must also "enforce the regulations and dealing with infringements ”or even contributing“ to the fight against fraud via controls ”while“ [reassuring] and [informing] travelers and employees as well ”.

In this specific case, the agents handed the person arrested "to the judicial authorities at Antibes station at 2.30 pm for contempt and rebellion", indicates the SNCF. But the young man's lawyer indicates that a complaint was filed against the agents "for forgery and use of forgery in public writing": "Their testimony is entirely disputed. My client spent the night in police custody, which was almost extended, but we insisted with the prosecution thanks to the images which clearly show that the scene does not correspond to what the officers described. "

"Basically, I was just listening to the scene"

Lastly, the SNCF confirms the possibility for any traveler to film images on board trains, except for one nuance: "In the video in question, the security officer is simply opposed to shooting directed towards faces, and this in strict compliance with image rights. "

For his part, Alexandre explains that he filmed the scene at the request of another person: "It was a passenger who said to me:" Please film, if they make shit, you have to film ". Basically, I didn't film, I just listened to the scene. It was from the moment they caught [the man] that I filmed, not the beginning because it was useless, it was a simple control for me. "

"I'm just saying one thing: if you're doing your job well, why are you afraid of being filmed?" If you were doing clean work, would you really be afraid that I would film you? […] I spoke with the young man and his lawyer after the fact, they told me that a meeting was scheduled for June 24 between the officers and him, ”he said. This has been confirmed to us by the SNCF, as well as by Me Zia Oloumi: “The confrontation that we have requested will take place in the coming days. "

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• Marseille
• SNCF
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