Officers charged in racial beating

PARIS — Four police officers have been charged over the beating of a Black music producer in Paris, authorities in France said Monday, in a case that has shocked the country and forced the government to confront accusations of police brutality and racism.

Graphic video posted on social media showed three officers pummeling Michel Zecler, 41, with fists, feet and a baton Nov. 21 in the entrance to a recording studio, while another threw a teargas canister through the window. Zecler said several officers had also used a racial slur against him.

The footage, obtained by Loopsider, a French digital news outlet, was at odds with the officers’ account of the events, and outrage in France was swift.

Authorities suspended the officers and opened an investigation. President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement that the images of the beating “bring shame upon us.” His government, facing growing public pressure, agreed Monday to revise a security bill that would have restricted sharing images of police officers.

The four officers were placed under formal investigation late Sunday and charged with assault, including the use of a weapon, a French judicial official said Monday. Some were also charged with the use of racial insults, the official said.

The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that the three officers accused of beating Zecler had also been charged with forgery of official documents — over suspicions that the officers had lied in their police report about the events — while the officer accused of throwing the teargas canister had also been charged with damaging private property.

The officers said that they had been trying to stop Zecler because he was not wearing a mask, authorities said.