BRUTAL French police were caught stamping on a British rail passenger’s head in a row over his face mask in shocking video footage.
Fellow passengers screamed as the burly cop used extreme force in a disturbing echo of the US death of George Floyd.
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The 42-year-old white Briton is said to have been hauled off the train and held down after refusing to wear his mask claiming his breathing was impaired.
Footage taken by fellow passengers showed him struggling on the ground while being detained by two officers at Fleury-les-Aubrais near Orleans.
Officers were called to take him off the Toulouse-bound service on Tuesday for being drunk and refusing to wear a mask.
But shocking footage showed cops kicking the suspect’s head down onto the train platform prompting as a passenger cried out: “It’s like the United States!”
The officers later claimed that they had acted properly because the Brit had lunged at them with a Swiss Army knife – but witnesses disputed the claim.
Footage showed an officer pointing at his police vest saying, “What does that say? This is marked ‘Police’, not a damned social worker – I do not give a damn.”
Other witnesses said one of the cops warned: “You’re in France here, you’re not in your country.”
But French Police union Alliance were backing the officers last night, declaring: “They did what was necessary to remove him from the train.
“We see this as attempted murder.”
An independent inquiry into the arrest was ordered today after the unnamed Briton was released from hospital into police custody.
