French police hold demonstrations over arrest of officer involved in fatal shooting
French police have held demonstrations in towns and cities across France, denouncing the arrest of an officer who was involved in a fatal shooting in Paris on the night of the presidential election.
Two people died and a third was injured after a police officer opened fire on a car on the Pont-Neuf in central Paris on the night of the French election.
An investigating magistrate has charged the officer with murder over the shooting, a decision that lead police unions to stage protests in multiple French towns on Monday.
The police unions Alliance, Synergie and Unsa-Police have called the decision "inadmissable" and on Monday staged protests in several towns, the largest in Paris on Place Saint-Michel, a few hundred metres from the Pont-Neuf.
Paris police trade unionists are massing in place St Michel to protest against a brother officer being accused of murder after gunning down two men on the nearby pont Neuf a week ago. pic.twitter.com/tcNwZkb9ze
— Peter Allen (@peterallenparis) May 2, 2022
Several hundred officers turned out to the Paris protest, which was later joined by a counter-protest against police violence.
The 24-year-old officer fired his assault rifle at the car after it failed to stop for a police check on the picturesque Pont Neuf bridge, later claiming that he acted in self-defence.
Two of the occupants of the car – including the driver – died at the scene, while a third person was injured.
https://twitter.com/peterallenparis/status/1521073288126074882
The officer was immediately taken in for questioning by the police’s internal investigations agency, and prosecutors determined it was more likely that the officer had responded with excessive force.
Counter-demonstrators hold a placard reading "L435-1, weapon of mass destruction" on the sidelines of a demonstration called by French Police unions in Paris against the indictment for "voluntary manslaughter" of a French police officer. Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP
Around a dozen rounds were fired, with “five or six shots hitting the occupants,” according to a police report of the incident seen by AFP.
It is not unheard of for police to stage protests or marches in France - in summer 2020 dozens of officers symbolically laid down their handcuffs in protest at a decision by the then-interior minister to suspend any officer accused of misconduct and to ban the controversial 'chokehold' - the government later backed down.
There were further protests later in the year from police unions over Emmanuel Macron's use of the phrase "police violence" in an interview.
READ ALSO How did France's relationship with its own police get so bad?
Comments
See Also
Two people died and a third was injured after a police officer opened fire on a car on the Pont-Neuf in central Paris on the night of the French election.
An investigating magistrate has charged the officer with murder over the shooting, a decision that lead police unions to stage protests in multiple French towns on Monday.
The police unions Alliance, Synergie and Unsa-Police have called the decision "inadmissable" and on Monday staged protests in several towns, the largest in Paris on Place Saint-Michel, a few hundred metres from the Pont-Neuf.
Paris police trade unionists are massing in place St Michel to protest against a brother officer being accused of murder after gunning down two men on the nearby pont Neuf a week ago. pic.twitter.com/tcNwZkb9ze
— Peter Allen (@peterallenparis) May 2, 2022
Several hundred officers turned out to the Paris protest, which was later joined by a counter-protest against police violence.
The 24-year-old officer fired his assault rifle at the car after it failed to stop for a police check on the picturesque Pont Neuf bridge, later claiming that he acted in self-defence.
Two of the occupants of the car – including the driver – died at the scene, while a third person was injured.
https://twitter.com/peterallenparis/status/1521073288126074882
The officer was immediately taken in for questioning by the police’s internal investigations agency, and prosecutors determined it was more likely that the officer had responded with excessive force.
Around a dozen rounds were fired, with “five or six shots hitting the occupants,” according to a police report of the incident seen by AFP.
It is not unheard of for police to stage protests or marches in France - in summer 2020 dozens of officers symbolically laid down their handcuffs in protest at a decision by the then-interior minister to suspend any officer accused of misconduct and to ban the controversial 'chokehold' - the government later backed down.
There were further protests later in the year from police unions over Emmanuel Macron's use of the phrase "police violence" in an interview.
READ ALSO How did France's relationship with its own police get so bad?
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.