Where Is Black Lives Matter? Protests Turn Violent In Paris Suburb After French Police Rape Man With Baton

Protests turned violent in a Paris suburb Tuesday morning during demonstrations against police officers charged in connection with the anal rape of a 22-year-old black man.

French police arrested 26 protestors in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a neighborhood in Paris' northern suburbs, during early morning clashes included a police car that was set on fire, according to the Associated Press.

On Sunday, local prosecutors charged one officer with rape and three others with assault stemming from the violent arrest Thursday of a man identified only as "Theo."

Theo, who authorities said had no prior criminal record, suffered anal injuries from a police baton that required major emergency surgery, the Guardian reported. Wearing shirts that read: "Justice Pour Theo" (or "Justice for Theo"), hundreds of local residents took to the streets Monday during a demonstration organized by Black Lives Matter France, according to Al-Jazeera. The demonstrations followed clashes with police and arson attacks over the weekend in which five people were reportedly arrested.

The prosecutors office said the rape and assault occurred after police approached a group of people they believed to be involved in the drug trade. During the interaction, officers attempted to apprehend Theo, who authorities said resisted arrest. According to prosecutors, the police officers used tear gas and an "expandable baton" to subdue Theo, who denied he resisted the officers, the Independent said.

"I didn’t try to run away. I told the officers: ‘You’ve torn my bag’, to which they replied that they didn’t give a damn," Theo said in a recorded conversation with his lawyer. “They all tried to grab me. I asked them why they were doing this, but they just continued to throw insults at me... He told me to put my hands behind my back. They put handcuffs on me and then they told me to sit down. They sprayed tear gas in my face and then I had a pain in my buttocks. My trousers were lowered. I was in serious pain.”

On Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande visited Theo in the hospital where he was recieving treatment, the AP reported.

Last year, violent protests erupted in another Paris suburb after Adama Traore, a 24-year-old black man, died in police custody.