French police arrested a journalist in Paris aboard the Eurostar train from London after the man exhibited erratic behaviour and threatened officers with scissors.
Police were alerted to the man’s strange behaviour onboard the train by a member of the crew who stated that he did not respect social distancing, started following other passengers around, spoke very loudly on his phone, and threatened to pull the train’s alarm.
The train was performing the only Eurostar service of the day due to Wuhan coronavirus restrictions. After it arrived, police officers at the Gare du Nord train station entered the train car and attempted to confront the man who ran to the back of the vehicle, according to Le Parisien.
Police eventually cornered the erratic man who then took out a pair of six-inch-long scissors and threatened to “plant” any officers who came near him.
After police drew their weapons, the man began ranting about being a journalist and knowing several high-profile press figures. He then claimed that the officers, who were members of the Cross-Border Control Unit of the National Railway Police Service, were not real police.
After seeing the man’s disturbed mental state, one of the officers holstered his firearm and when more officers arrived, the man gave up his scissors and accepted arrest.
The man, who was subsequently confirmed to be an actual journalist, was later taken into psychiatric custody at the mental health infirmary of the Paris Prefecture of Police.
The bizarre incident follows signs of unrest in other parts of France under the strict coronavirus lockdown measures which French President Emmanuel Macron extended until May 11th this week.
Last week, it was revealed that youths had attacked police in multiple cities. In one incident, a fridge was thrown off of a balcony at officers in Bordeaux.
The incidents came just days after gangs of youths in Montpellier attacked each other with machetes and other weapons over disputes over the sale of contraband cigarettes and hashish in the local area.