Several thousand people marched through the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest the death of a Mauritanian immigrant worker, El Hacen Diarra, while in police custody, chanting slogans against “a police force that kills us,” according to AFP.
The 35-year-old’s death has sparked outrage amid ongoing concerns about alleged racism and excessive use of force by French police. Demonstrators gathered outside the shelter where Diarra had been living—where he was violently arrested on the night of January 14—before marching to the local police station, carrying banners reading “Justice” and “RIP.” Members of Diarra’s family joined the protest.
Video footage shared on social media shows a police officer punching a man lying on the ground while another officer stands nearby. Diarra’s family has filed a legal complaint accusing security forces of “intentional violence that led to a death,” according to their lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou. Paris police have opened an internal investigation into the incident.
France’s Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, rejected calls to suspend the officers involved pending the investigation. “The officer who throws two punches in the footage will have to explain himself,” Nunez told Le Parisien. “But nothing at this stage indicates the causes of death.”
According to Diarra’s family, he had been drinking coffee outside the shelter when the encounter with police escalated. Prosecutors, however, say police alleged that Diarra was rolling a cannabis joint and resisted a body search. He was taken into custody on suspicion of resisting arrest, possessing “a brown substance resembling cannabis,” and having “forged administrative documents.”
While at the station, Diarra reportedly passed out on a bench. Paramedics attempted to revive him, but he was later pronounced dead.
At the protest, Diarra’s cousin, Diankou Sissoko, expressed skepticism about accountability. “I don’t believe at all that we will see justice, because even before El Hacen died, there were other deaths and there has never been justice,” she told AFP. She described Diarra as “kind, smiling, and quiet,” disputing the police portrayal of him as aggressive.
Allegations of police violence have risen in recent years, notably during the 2018–2019 “yellow vest” protests. Prosecutors have also called for a police officer to face trial over the 2023 killing of a teenager, Nahel M., during a traffic stop—a case that sparked nationwide protests. A court is expected to rule in March on whether the officer will face a criminal trial. In 2024, three police officers received suspended sentences for inflicting irreversible rectal injuries on a Black man during a 2017 stop-and-search.
