Beware of this false information on the arrest of Michel Zecler

A screenshot of the video surveillance images broadcast by Loopsider, Thursday, November 26, 2020. -

• Viral on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp for twenty-four hours, a text is presented as the testimony of a member of the police brigade involved in the violent arrest of Michel Zecler.

• Its author indicates that the members of the security forces arrested Michel Zecler to seize a "bag full of drugs", that the latter would have been violent, and that no racist insult would have been uttered by the police.

• These statements are however not in agreement with the testimonies collected so far, as well as with the statements of the public prosecutor of Paris, Rémy Heitz.

Viral posts on social networks and in WhatsApp chat loops supporting law enforcement highlight the testimony of an alleged colleague of the four police officers involved in the beating, revealed by Loopsider last Thursday, from the producer of music, Michel Zecler.

The author of this text defends the four police officers indicted on Monday, in accordance with the prosecution's requisitions.

Two of them, the brigadier and one of the peacekeepers seen in the videos, were remanded in custody.

In this testimony, a supposed police officer speaks out to defend his colleagues involved in the Michel Zecler - Tom Hollmann affair

This testimony, whose author is not known, contains several false claims, which 

has verified.

FAKE OFF

Was the purpose of the arrest to seize a "bag full of drugs", as the viral text claims?

The one who presents himself as the colleague of the police officers ensures that the "attempted arrest" of Michel Zecler does not result from a control for non-wearing of the mask, "but above all to try to recover a bag full of drugs".

“Obviously, [after the arrest] the bag disappeared,” the text continues.

In their arrest report, which

was able to consult, the police indicated that their intervention resulted from the refusal of the music producer to submit to a police check, while he was not wearing a mask and that 'he smelled strongly of cannabis.

They do not mention a satchel "full of drugs".

A shoulder bag will be found in Michel Zecler's recording studio during the search carried out Tuesday, November 24, three days after the facts, said the Paris public prosecutor on Sunday.

According to him, 0.5 grams of cannabis was found inside.

Was Michel Zecler holding the door to prevent the police from leaving the airlock?

"The individual held the exit door with his foot so that colleagues do not go out," says the text shared on social networks.

On the other side of the airlock, "one of the colleagues was holding the access door to the recording room from which 9 furious individuals arrived who shouted that they were going to smash them".

This statement does not correspond to the images broadcast in full by Loopsider.

It is possible to see that Michel Zecler does not prevent the police from going out: on the contrary, he tries to keep the front door open by calling for help.

It is only once the door is closed by the police that they start hitting the music producer.

After several hearings, they will recognize that the beatings “were not justified”, reported the prosecutor Rémy Heitz Sunday.

Regarding the nine young men who were in the basement, in the recording studio, it was only after several minutes that they heard screams and calls for help from their producer.

On the video shot by one of them, also revealed by Loopsider, none of the young men threaten, through the door, to "smash" the police.

It is however possible to hear an injunction from one of the young people: “Open!

"

Did Michel Zecler beat the police?

"Certainly, the images are violent, but this individual also struck the ground, blows that we do not see", indicates the author of the alleged testimony.

In the arrest report, the police indicated that Michel Zecler struck them "with his arms and legs" and that he would have vainly "tried to seize their administrative weapon".

The officials then file a complaint and an investigation targeted the music producer for "violence against a person holding public authority" and "rebellion".

This investigation was, however, dismissed by the prosecution on Tuesday, November 24, for "insufficiently characterized offense".

CCTV images do not show blows by Michel Zecler.

In his testimony to Loopsider, the latter even explained his lack of reaction: “I did not want to have virulent gestures that would work against me later.

I didn't have to raise my hands, do something violent.

"

Have racist remarks been made?

The viral text assures us: the racist terms targeting Michel Zecler “have never been said”.

From their placement in police custody on Friday until their indictment on Monday, the police have denied having uttered racist insults.

“I've heard the 'dirty nigger' a lot,” the music producer told Loopsider.

In an interview with

 published on Monday, Michel Zecler maintains his accusations, believing that he perceived this insult as "even more violent than the blows he received".

The producer's version is corroborated by one of the nine young people present in the recording studio.

The investigating judge who indicted the four police officers in the night from Sunday to Monday for "willful violence by a person holding public authority" in any case retained several aggravating circumstances, including "racist remarks" .

Society

Producer beaten in Paris: The provisional detention of the police, an extremely rare measure

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