Amid a mounting debate over accusations of systemic racism within France’s police force, this joint investigation by Mediapart and ARTE Radio reveals the vile exchanges between police officers on a WhatsApp chat group, in which they talk of “enemies of the white race” and of “niggers”, describe women as “whores”, Jews as “sons of bitches” who “govern the country”, and gay men as “poofs”. Camille Polloni reports on a case that came to light only due to the courage of one of their black colleagues and how, five months after his formal complaint, the men were still in their posts.
The head of France’s national police force, Frédéric Veaux, last week announced that six white officers are to face a disciplinary hearing for exchanging racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and sexist comments on a private WhatsApp discussion group composed of 11 policemen.
