Thread by @ClaireBerlinski

This video is making the rounds, and has now been boosted by @joerogan, so perhaps people would like the whole story. This did not happen because they tried to go shopping at the mall without a vaccine passport. It couldn't be, because you don't need the pass to go to the mall.

https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/1434267241604792320

The pass is only required for restaurants, bars, and hospitals. It's inconceivable that anyone would be beaten like this for failing to show it.
Here's the real story and context: liberation.fr/checknews/viol…

I'll translate. "Police violence in Paris during the anti-health pass demonstration: What happened at Châtelet-les Halles?"
Châtelet is a huge metro station and shopping center in the city center.
The video shows agents of Brav M, the motorized violent action repression brigade.

You can tell from their helmets.

Why was Brav M called out? Because the demo got violent. Lots of Gilets Jaunes, Antifa. (Anyone who doubts demos like this in Paris can get *very* violent is not to be trusted to explain France.)

They run into the entrance to the metro.

There were many anto-pass demos that Saturday. This one was supposed to end at the Bastille, but continued all the way to Châtelet, miles away.
Here's a video that shows the "before."

As you can see, this isn't about a woman who fails to show her pass. The rowdy crowd pushes over the shoppers, commuters, and security guards to invade the mall.
By the way, the guards aren't there to check your pass, which, again, you don't need.

They're there to make sure you don't blow the place up. (If you doubt the latter is necessary, remember this: nbcnews.com/news/world/his….) They also make sure people don't shoplift, and they try to damp down the drug dealing.

The crowd is yelling "anti-sanitary pass," and singing yellow vest songs.
Here's another angle on the storming of the the mall:

https://twitter.com/AnthoDepe/status/1434175587938144258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1434175587938144258%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.liberation.fr%2Fchecknews%2Fviolences-policieres-a-paris-lors-de-la-manif-anti-pass-sanitaire-que-sest-il-passe-a-chatelet-les-halles-20210907_DRDJLF47OBHHNHJMA3R4MV57PY%2F

This isn't appropriate behavior. This is where people go to shop for electronic goods on the weekend, it's a key commuter hub:

No normal person in France appreciates these people behaving that way when they're out shopping with their kids on a weekend.
Here's another angle on it: facebook.com/Lagiflevipmedi… (They're shouting "Liberty, liberty.")

You can see, in all these videos, what happens to the woman in blue. She's a little bit behind all the demonstrators who forced their way into the mall. She and the woman in the black T-shirt are holding a sign that says, "Show your pass, mass control ¡ Ya Basta !"

("That's enough", in Spanish.)
A couple dozen demonstrators come down another flight of stairs at about 3:13, the same time as the Brav M. The Brav M come down the stairs, stay there for a few seconds, then go down the stairs to the metro.

There, they run after the scattered demonstrators (Go to 3:14 in this video: facebook.com/Vecu.lemedia/v…). They grab the woman in blue, thump hr with the baton, and drop her to the ground.

Why are they thumping a harmless-looking woman with a baton?
Well, here's a clue: She shouts “ACAB” and “Everyone hates the police!”
(Whereas the anti-vax movement in the US is mostly a far-right phenomenon, in France it's far left.)

The cops stay in the middle of the station, creating a perimeter around the people they arrested, before withdrawing.
Here's another video that shows the cops. carrying her out as the crowd boos and shouts anti-police slogans:

https://twitter.com/CharliB97783485/status/1434170164145184770?s=20

Here's what the police had to say about the incident:

https://twitter.com/prefpolice/status/1434811732447350788?s=20

It says, "A video showing a police intervention in a Parisian shopping center caused lots of reactions on social media. Here's how to make sense of it." The police spokeswoman says,

"What were the circumstances in which this intervention happened," she asks.

"On Saturday, September 4, at about 4.30 pm, during a demonstration against the health pass, a group of about a hundred demonstrators broke away from the main demo and went on a wild detour,

"disrespecting the route that had been declared to the police headquarters." (The demo route was cleared beforehand with the cops.)
"This group entered a shopping center in central Paris, assaulting a security guard."

"So police from the violent action repression brigade intervened to put an end to the intrusion and prevent property damage or violence. As soon as they arrived, the crowd began throwing projectiles at them. This is why they arrested three people:"

"For violence and contempt for the forces of public order. Following these arrests, the procession dispersed without incident.”

In the videos, we clearly see physical altercations between security guards and demonstrators,

and we see a jet of liquid--from a water bottle--sprayed at the police as they retreated. None of the videos clearly show someone throwing projectiles at them, but it may well have happened. I don't know. It's certainly plausible. It's also plausible that it didn't happen.

The Paris prosecutor's office says four people were taken into custody during the demonstration; a man and a woman (perhaps the one in the videos) were charged with "violence and contempt for a person who holds public authority," and placed under judicial supervision.

A third was cautioned. Charges against the fourth were dismissed because they were too vague, the prosecutor says.

No one was injured and no damage was reported.

If you'd like to know more about France's police and these kinds of protests, I've written about them here:
city-journal.org/police-handlin…
the-american-interest.com/2018/12/13/fra…
claireberlinski.substack.com/p/how-the-poli…
The police do have a reputation for violence, yes. But so do the demonstrators.

The health pass is actually extremely popular here. The French almost never say, in polls, that they're happy with a government policy, so the high level of approval is notable. leparisien.fr/societe/sante/…

The people who've been protesting against it are the same group of die-hard cretins who protest absolutely everything in France.
To be continued ...