A local police source told AFP on 29 September that the Nice police have launched an investigation after the broadcast of a video on social networks that shows the ultra-violent aggression of a white male.
“We watched this video on which we see a person being attacked by a whole group, but it is not dated and the place is not specified,” said the source. The news of the assault was not reported in the mainstream media.
On the images, shot at night with a smartphone, in what seems to be a street in Old Nice near the Courthouse, a group of Arab men claiming “Nice 06 000” encourage one of theirs to “fuck” the victim, the video ending on a close-up where we see a white man with bloody face lying on the ground, unconscious.
The video was broadcast on social networks in an effort to identify the attackers. It seems according to several testimonies that one of the attackers wearing a black shirt is called Yanis. He is allegedly already known to the police for fights and other misdeeds.
Since Friday, the video showing the assault has been extensively commented with thousands of views.
The sequence, which lasts less than a minute, is captioned: “Scum are looking forward to killing a white man.”
Men with a migrant background shout: “j’l’ai détruit!” – “I destroyed him!” when the victim is lying motionless on a street in the old town of Nice.
The footage taken near the Palais de Justice, was published by Philippe Vardon, a member of the Rassemblement National (RN) of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region.
He called on the public to give details in order to find the perpetrators and urged the Police to initiate an investigation.
The Nice police have responded promptly and started an investigation, but would not give any information on the video. But the statements of the police suggest that they are not particularly motivated to expose the background of the attack.
One person on social media noted: “It’s Nice. I know this road very well. No doubt.”
The area around the Palais de Justice, which is also heavily frequented by tourists, is one of those parts of the city in which violent scenes take place again and again.
Philippe Vardon has been following up on the assault. He tweeted that the victim was a Polish homeless person), and that he has survived the attack.
⚠️De bonnes nouvelles ! La victime (un SDF Polonais) est bien en vie, sans trop de casse, et la police est en bonne voie pour l’identification des agresseurs. J’espère que ces salopards seront bientôt arrêtés et surtout très sévèrement punis. #Nice06 mérite mieux que tout ça… https://t.co/wKPjzZp4ag
— Philippe Vardon (@P_Vardon) October 1, 2018