Brouta: ‘Gendarmes kicked me
in the stomach and genitals’
FRENCH QUARTER--Eugene Brouta, the man whose alleged ill treatment by three Gendarmes enraged French Quarter citizens and led to rioting Tuesday morning, has said he is seeking compensation from the Gendarmerie for the injuries inflicted on him following the identity control that sparked the incident.
“I am a father, I have four children to feed, a wife, and bills to pay. It’s not easy on top of what happened yesterday (Tuesday),” he told The Daily Herald Wednesday.
Brouta, who ironically lives behind the French Quarter Gendarmerie station, said he has been in and out of doctor’s surgeries constantly since the incident when he was first taken to the hospital’s emergency room Tuesday morning with his head supported by a brace.
He added he has severe pain all the time in his stomach, shoulder and neck from the manhandling by the Gendarmes and is on strong medication. He said blood tests and X-rays have been taken and his family are also monitoring his condition closely.
Brouta said he did not know why he was singled out by the Gendarmes Tuesday morning.
“I told them three times I don’t have papers on me. I am a born St. Martiner. But as I went to my truck to look for my passport, they pushed me back. Two of the Gendarmes held me from behind while the Gendarme at the front was kicking me in the stomach and genitals.”
He said he does not know what has happened to his neck, whether it is a torn muscle or something worse.
“I have had dealings with the Gendarmes in the past and never had a problem and many of them have been very friendly. But there was something about these three. They were young and seemed to have a problem. It is the first time I have been approached in such a manner,” Brouta said.
Commandant Baras noted on Tuesday that some days before the French Quarter incident, gunshots had been fired at Gendarmes and patrols had been actively looking for suspects of that shooting, and that was why increased identity controls were being conducted.
Baras, who mixed with the crowd on Tuesday in his bid to ameliorate the situation, said the majority of identity controls had been carried out with no incidents whatsoever.
Meanwhile, some residents have questioned whether Gendarmes had the right to carry out identity controls. They suggested this was the job of the immigration service Police aux Frontieres (PAF).
