2023-12-17 21:45:35
A man died in mid-December in Paris after being hit by a motorcyclist member of the brigade for the repression of violent motorcyclist action (BRAV-M), a controversial police unit. The Paris prosecutor’s office announced on Sunday December 17 the opening of an investigation into “determine the circumstances” of this death, confirming a information from Mediapart.
The investigation follows “a fatal accident involving a BRAV-M motorcycle and a pedestrian who was crossing, avenue de Flandre”, Tuesday December 12 in the 19th arrondissement of the capital, according to the same source. It was entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) and the Judicial Accident Processing Service (STJA).
The biker from the BRAV-M, a unit regularly criticized for its violent management of law enforcement, “was trying to avoid a third party vehicle” when he ” reversed “ the victim, we told the police headquarters. Another police source assured that the victim was “an elderly man who was very drunk, which probably explains the accident”.
According to Mediapartthe police officers involved declared that “the motorcyclist was unable to avoid this passerby, “a bottle in his hand, appearing drunk”, otherwise he would have “hit a double-parked van””. The police also reported that their speed “would not have been excessive”according to the online investigation site.
Units subject to several legal investigations
According to Mediapart, the pedestrian, seriously injured, died Thursday in hospital. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed the death, but was unable to confirm the date. The police source assured that this accident occurred while the BRAV-M column was responding “to a request for reinforcement of a crew from the local security department of the Paris metropolitan area”.
BRAV-M was created in spring 2019 after the violence that occurred during the “yellow vest” demonstrations. This unit travels on motorcycles to ensure the maintenance of order during demonstrations in Paris. More mobile than the CRS or the mobile gendarmes, its mission consists of coming into contact with violent elements to stop the damage and arrest them.
The brigade is the subject of several legal investigations for violence against demonstrators, particularly during mobilizations against pension reform. Its dismantling was requested by several deputies from La France insoumise (LFI) and by citizen petitions.
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