Moroccan Influencer Files Complaint After Racist Attack Near Eiffel Tower

Fatima Saidi, a 22-year-old influencer with nearly 400,000 followers on Instagram living in Madrid (Spain), was marked by her first visit to Paris. She was targeted on Wednesday, April 17 by the spit of a jogger as she and her friend were walking near the Eiffel Tower, rue Marinoni, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, reports Le Parisien. "We were talking with my friend when a jogger passed by us," describes the young woman. She recounts: "He spat on me. I felt his spit on my veil. I looked at him, at the moment I didn’t understand what had just happened. He continued to run, making comments in French that I didn’t understand. I told him in English: What’s wrong with you? But he continued to run, giving us the middle finger. His attitude was hostile and he looked at us badly." Her friend corroborates the facts. "I was next to Fatima, looking for a restaurant on my phone, when I heard a gentleman spit," testifies Tafat (the name has been changed), who was wearing a niqab that day. She continues: "I looked up and Fatima showed me the spit that landed on her face and on her veil. Honestly, I think the spit was aimed at both of us."

Immediately afterwards, Fatima catches up with the jogger and films "in case something happens to me". She posts the video (no longer visible since) on her Instagram account. The video shows a graying man spitting in the direction of the Moroccan tourist, giving her the middle finger, then taking off while uttering an inaudible sentence. The young woman then tells him: "Don’t spit in my face! You’re disgusting." Subsequently, she filed a complaint against the aggressor at the Paris Center police station. The jogger "deliberately spat on me because I was wearing a hijab," assures this young entrepreneur, who owns her own travel agency, in the police report. And to confirm by telephone: "This kind of person is used to taking advantage of the fact that we are young women, because they know that we won’t do anything to them. For me, it’s both racism and sexism".

Fatima returned to Spain on Thursday. Her many Instagram followers have sent her messages of support. On Friday, the City of Paris, through the voice of its first deputy mayor (PS), Emmanuel Grégoire, said it condemns "obviously this gesture, which represents both an aggression against the Muslim religion and against women". This aggression "goes against the spirit of tolerance and openness that characterizes Paris," denounces the elected official. He made a point of specifying that the fight against discrimination remains "a priority" for the municipal majority. The City "supports these two young women and trusts the justice system to ensure that this act does not go unpunished," he adds.