The police headquarters opened an administrative investigation after the interview Friday evening on C8 in the program “TPMP” of four people presented as BRAV-M police officers. The police headquarters doubts that they belong to this service.
It is a viral sequence on social networks, which cumulates, Sunday April 2 at midday, more than two million views on the only twitter account of the program “TPMP” of the C8 channel. Four people presented as police intervene in the show, Friday, March 31, and respond to criticism of the BRAV-M, a motorized police brigade. This unit is criticized in particular for its management of the protest against the pension reform. DElected officials from the Île de France region and deputies from rebellious France have been asking for its dismantling. After the program was broadcast, the police headquarters indicated that it doubted whether these people belonged to BRAV-M. Here is what we know about this controversy.
How did the show go?
Friday, March 31 on the C8 channel, in the program “TPMP”, four people, three men and a woman, are first presented by Cyril Hanouna as police officers belonging to the BRAV-M unit. A banner, displayed at the bottom of the screen, then specifies: “4 police officers members of the BRAV-M and special units come out of the silence”.
Their voices are changed, their faces are masked by balaclavas and they wear an orange armband with the inscription “police” clearly visible. The flagship host of the show questions them for about thirty minutes about the violence of which these police officers are accused during the demonstrations against the pension reform, while a petition for the dissolution of the BRAV-M reaches more than 240 000 signatures, Sunday, April 2 at midday, on the site of the National Assembly.
“We know the terrain very, very well,” says one of the speakers, “we are among the veterans, we have practiced it from A to Z”. “The people we are facing are not innocent protesters but black blocs determined to kill us” he continues, “it’s not the police who have become more and more violent, it’s the clashes that have become, we have adapted“. Another police officer interviewed emphasizes that he wants “make it clear that behind the policeman there is a human” Who “don’t go drinking, eating, or going to the bathroom for ten hours”.
Are they really BRAV-M police officers?
A few hours after the broadcast of the program, the police headquarters reacted on Twitter and indicated that “Ihe first elements in [sa] possession suggests that these people do not belong to BRAV-M”. It also announces the opening of an administrative investigation and referral to the Paris public prosecutor.
In the “TPMP” sequence, these police officers are presented as “four members of the BRAV-M”, by Cyril Hanouna. But early in the interview, one of the masked men “wants to make a small clarification”. He explains that there is “among [eux] members of the BRAV-M and members of specialized units who intervene in the maintenance of order and we have done this all our career for 15 years.
Faced with the controversy, the C8 channel indicated, the day after the broadcast, to have received “four policemen” on its tray, including “one who was revoked in the month of December”. “It was clarified on the air that not all of them were part of the BRAV-M” also adds the Canal+ group channel. This man says he testifies on behalf of the BRAV-M police officers, to tell their daily life.
On Instagram, a man, Cédric Vladimir claims to be the dismissed policeman interviewed on the set. He confirms, on his account that he does not belong to the BRAV-M, “everyone knows that I belonged to the CSI93 and not to the BRAV-M”, he writes. “Those who say I posed as a member of BRAV-M must be deaf.” He then explains that he is not part of this unit but that he went “to carry the word of many members of the BRAV-M who [lui] asked to do so, and [lui] did the honor of speaking their truth”.
Guest of BFM TV on Sunday April 2, the prefect of police Laurent Nunez spoke about this affair. “We have the impression that four Brav-M officials are being questioned. From what I know, not all of them, in any case the vast majority are not. We still have some doubts”specifies Laurent Nunez before adding: “I am told that they may be police officers, I do not know”. The prefect of police recalls that he authorizes “police officers to speak out” but in this specific case, “we had no permission”. For him, “go like that communicate and be the spokespersons of the Brav-M in a hooded way […] It’s not terrible as a picture. It damages the image of the unit in question that we defend and which does a remarkable job and which did not need that”.
What reactions provoked this sequence?
Guest of the “Grand Rendez-vous” Europe 1 / Cnews / Les Echos, Sunday April 2, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin said he had “propose” that the prefect of police Laurent Nuñez “may be a guest on Mr. Hanouna’s show on Monday”. “And I believe it will be there”, continues the minister. Questioned on Sunday on BFM TV Laurent Nunez indicates that he “willingly respond to invitations from the media. I do not have to judge the relevance of this program. I have to follow up with Gérald Darmanin and under his authority to find out whether or not we will confirm our participation. Investigations are underway so it is appropriate to be careful not to pollute the investigations by participating in this program”. Laurent Nunez also indicates that he “consider this matter to be serious, it is very serious”.
The police headquarters was not the only one to react to the outcome of the program, the union of national police commissioners (SCPN) also spoke about the controversy. The SCPN criticizes Cyril Hanouna on twitter for not having “carried out the necessary checks to avoid making these usurping puppets talk”and warns the host: “You deserve prosecution”.
For its part, Arcom, the media regulator, claims to have been “grabbed by viewers” and that she is going “view the sequence in question and instruct it if necessary” following his “usual procedure”.