
President Emmanuel Macron called the crime against the female police officer a “cowardly and criminal lynching”, and vowed that those responsible would be caught and punished.
On Tuesday, reports of another attack on police officers emerged, this time in the northern suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois when police stopped two youths suspected of stealing a scooter.
One officer was punched several times while another fired his gun into the air to scare off the attackers.
The attacks on the police were widely condemned by France's outraged political class, who offered solidarity to the injured officers but also demanded swift and tough justice for those responsible. Far right leader Marine Le Pen demanded a reform to allow police to greater use of “legitimate defense” to respond to such attacks.
Pressure grew on France's interior minister Gerard Collomb, who called the attacks “savage” and “unacceptable”.
He denounced a “society of violence” that “cannot continue to exist”.
History of violence