Macron’s U-turn leaves French police chief to take heat over abuse

Emmanuel Macron’s police chief faces a grilling on Tuesday with the French government on the defensive after three officers were filmed attacking a Black man last month.

National Police Director General Frederic Veaux will be questioned by a Senate committee in Paris on Tuesday just a day after Macron’s governing party retreated from plans to criminalize the filming of police officers following a weekend of protests.

The U-turn was a blow to the 42-year-old president who has been pushing for tougher legislation as part of a drive to improve security and crack down on crime. The protests on Saturday drew huge crowds — as many as 300,000 by some estimates — and though largely peaceful at the start, violence broke out in pockets later on in the day, with groups of individuals dressed in black attacking police and reports of officers beating protesters.

The mood on the streets of France has soured since a video was posted on social media last week showing three police officers beating Black music producer Michel Zecler during an arrest at the entrance of his Paris studio on Nov. 21 while a fourth throws a tear-gas canister through the window.