Women shown in video were anti-vaccine protesters, not shoppers

A TikTok post shows a video of law enforcement officers chasing two women in a mall and using strong physical force to overpower and detain them.

"Paris police beat a woman for shopping at a mall with no vaccine passport," the text on the video reads. The video was also reshared on Twitter by podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan. 

TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact's partnership with TikTok.)

The video clearly shows the women being struck and tackled by uniformed police, but the women weren’t shoppers — they were a part of a group of anti-vaccine protesters that made their way into the mall.

On July 12, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a mandate that public places like malls, restaurants and hospitals must require a COVID-19 pass showing proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. 

Since the mandate, there have been weeks of protests from anti-vaccine advocates, resulting in some clashes with police. 

On Sept. 4, thousands of people demonstrated across Paris in protest of the mandate, and news articles and social media posts and videos showed a large group forcing their way into the Westfield Forum Des Halles, a shopping mall connected to the Châtelet-Les Halles train station. Forum Des Halles noted on its website that it only requires COVID-19 passes to access its cinema and restaurants. Masks and social distancing are required throughout the mall. 

Twitter posts show the protesters inside the mall chanting "liberté" and confronting the deployed Motorized Violent Action Repression Brigade police unit, or BRAV-M. Images and reports show that the two women from the TikTok video were among the protesters to be detained by the police. 

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A TikTok post showed two women being overtaken, struck and detained by police inside a Paris mall, claiming to show that one of them was beaten while shopping. 

The video does show that the police used physical force to subdue the women, but more context is needed. The women were part of a wave of anti-vaccine protesters who forced their way into the mall.

The protest inside the mall was just one of many across Paris, as anti-vaccine advocates decry mandated COVID-19 passes.

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