The French National Police violently arrested a Jewish man from New York after he tried to take a selfie with an Israeli flag outside the Olympic Aquatics Center in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
Neil Frias was posing for a selfie with the Israeli flag outside the Olympic Aquatics Center when three police officers began to interrogate him and asked him if he was “inciting a riot or a protest,” reports the New York Post.
The officers demanded to know why he was taking a picture, then seized Frias’ phone and “tried to rip” his flag, according to the complaint made by the victim to the Inspector General of the National Police about the July 30 incident.
After verifying his passport and his ticket to the France-Japan water polo match that afternoon, the cops let Frias go.
Nevertheless, 15 minutes later, when Frias stood in line at the facility’s main entrance to have his ticket scanned, a different group of five cops suddenly arrested him. When he asked the cops why they were arresting him, one of the officers allegedly responded that it was because he was “resisting.”
They shoved him against a tree before dragging him by his feet to the police van, causing bruising and bleeding, according to the Frias’ complaint. Photos of the injuries supported his claim.
“I am deeply disheartened with the fact of how the French National Police treated this whole situation and psychologically abused me,” said Frias, who was in Paris to support the Israeli team and experience the unity of the Olympics.
According to Frias’ complaint, he was detained for 27 hours, during which time he was humiliated by the cops, who allegedly told him to “go drink the toilet water” and took pictures of him with their cell phones.
The victim waited eight hours before receiving medical attention, which revealed he had a sprain at the top of his spinal cord and a fractured rib.
According to criminal charges, Frias was violently resisting arrest and trespassing at a sports venue while drunk. However, Frias denies both charges.
According to Frias’ lawyer, his client’s arrest “has something to do with him taking one picture of himself with an Israeli flag,” adding that a number of anti-Israel protesters who waved Palestinian flags and booed the Jewish state during its match against Mali were not immediately arrested.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Neil Frias
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