February 17–Tens of thousands demonstrated in France in support of Theo L, the young black man brutalized by cops in Aulnay sous Bois, a Paris suburb. Marches and vigils took place in Paris, Dijon, Marseilles, Poitiers, Rennes, Nice, and many other cities.
On February 2, Theo, a community organizer with no police record, came across four cops harassing some youth of immigrant origin. When one of the cops struck one of the youth, Theo tried to intervene and the cops piled on Theo instead. They beat him, pulled down his pants and sodomized him with a night stick, severely injuring him. Youth took to the streets that same night and the protests have spread through France and other European countries.
The protestors are demanding “justice” for Theo but they won’t get it through the courts. Already the French internal affairs have declared that the injury was an “accident.” Some protestors have taken matters into their own hands and attacked the police en masse.
People wonder how or why the police are so brutal and pick on people who have done nothing. The answer is that their job is to sow terror, and arbitrary, brutal attacks on innocent people are very intimidating.
Of course, Theo is just the latest in a long series of victims of racist attacks, as the sign above makes clear. Under communism workers won’t need protection from the police because there will be no police. Workers will manage our own affairs and will handle disputes mainly through discussion and compromise. The only people who will be afraid of us will be the bosses and their servants, and they won’t be around for long.
