A video going viral showing a group of eight boys attacking a schoolboy is under investigation after claims of it being a racist attack.
A video on Twitter shows the teenager being repeatedly kicked in the commuter town of Etampes, south of Paris.
France: Police investigate racist attack on white schoolboy being kicked & beaten by group of eight black teenagers.
Mayor of Etampes said the ‘racist’ attack was ‘scandalous’, & ‘We will be particularly vigilant about this kind of intolerable behaviour’. https://t.co/LqkKJux8r6 pic.twitter.com/KHlxHV6yvI— 🇦🇺🇬🇧🇮🇪 ✝️ @EmmaDownUnder ✡️ 🇭🇺🇵🇱🇦🇺 (@emm_downunder) January 27, 2020
Police have begun the probe into footage which shows a white schoolboy being kicked and beaten by a group of eight black teenagers in France.
The boy being assaulted is the only white person in the film, prompting accusations that he may have been attacked because of his colour.
A spokesman for France’s National Police force said the incident was under investigation, and that it could be a staged ‘video-aggression’.
The police referred to the ‘Happy Slapping’ craze that started in the UK in 2005, and which saw bored youngsters carrying out violent attacks so that they could be filmed and posted online.
Prosecutors in Evry-Courcouronnes have also been made aware of the Etampes video, but no complaint has yet been made to them by the victim.
Filming an assault carried out by an accomplice is a criminal offence in France, one that can punished by up to five years in prison and a fine equivalent to around £63,000.
Bernard Laplace, the Mayor of Etampes, said the apparent attack was ‘scandalous’, adding: ‘We will be particularly vigilant about this kind of intolerable behaviour.’
