An injured tourist told The Post that French national police had violently arrested a man from Hell’s Kitchen after he tried to pose for a photo with an Israeli flag outside the Olympic venue.
Neil Frias, who is Jewish, I was taking a selfie He recalled that he had been holding an Israeli flag outside the Olympic swimming centre in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis when three police officers began questioning him, asking if he was “inciting riots or protests”.
According to a complaint filed with the National Police Inspector General about the July 30 incident, the officers questioned him about why he was taking the photos.
The officers confiscated Frias’ cellphone and “attempted to rip apart” his flag, according to the lawsuit.
Frias, 35, was released after officers checked his passport and found he had tickets for a France-Japan water polo match that afternoon.
But about 15 minutes later, as Frias was waiting in line to have his ticket scanned at the facility’s main entrance, another group of five officers suddenly apprehended him, he recalled.
According to the criminal complaint, Frias asked police in French why they were arresting him, to which one of the officers responded that it was because he was “resisting.”
According to the complaint and photos of his injuries obtained by The Washington Post, officers pinned him against a tree and then dragged him by his legs to a police vehicle, leaving him bruised and bleeding.
“I came to Paris to support the Israeli team and to take proud part in the Olympics,” Frias, who had been volunteering with the Israel Defense Forces for the three months prior to her visit to Paris, told The Post.
“I am deeply disappointed by how the French National Police handled this situation and the psychological abuse they have caused me.”
According to the complaint, Frias was held for 27 hours at Saint-Denis police station, where officers allegedly humiliated him after the assault, telling him to “drink toilet water” and taking photos of him on their mobile phones.
Frias said it took him several hours to get in touch with an interpreter (who, after all, speaks Spanish) to explain his rights to his lawyer.
He waited eight hours to see a doctor, who diagnosed him with an upper spinal sprain and fractured ribs.
According to a criminal summons, Frias was charged with viciously resisting arrest and trespassing on a sports facility while intoxicated, both charges he denies.
“I can’t help but wonder if it has something to do with the fact that he had a photograph of himself holding an Israeli flag,” said Frias’ lawyer, David Cazeneuve, who expressed outrage that several anti-Israel protesters who waved Palestinian flags and booed the state of Israel during the match against Mali were not arrested as quickly as his client.
“Something very strange is happening on our side.”
National police referred questions to Bobigny district prosecutor Eric Mathias, who did not respond to requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Isabel Vincent
