French prosecutors have opened an attempted homicide investigation after an undercover police officer was chased, thrown to the ground and beaten unconscious near a high school in Belfort, eastern France, in violence that the interior minister described as “images of rare brutality.”
Officer Targeted During Student Blockade
The attack occurred Friday at around 9:15 a.m. near the Gustave-Courbet high school, where the officer had just detained a young man suspected of starting a fire on a grassy area near the school grounds, according to Belfort prosecutor Paul-Edouard Lallois.
“This police commander quickly found himself surrounded by a particularly aggressive horde of individuals,” Lallois told a press briefing Friday afternoon. The officer “was set upon by a savage horde of young people who knocked him to the ground and rained down punches and kicks, notably to the head,” he said.
Police reinforcements intervened swiftly to disperse the group and come to the officer’s aid. The officer, who lost consciousness, was hospitalized but his condition is no longer considered seriously concerning, authorities said. He was struck in the head multiple times and, though shocked, was to undergo further examinations later in the day.
Interior Minister Vows to Identify Perpetrators
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on the social media platform X that the footage, circulated by the police union Alliance, showed “these images of rare brutality” and called them “unbearable.”
Nuñez announced that the Belfort prosecutor had opened an investigation for attempted voluntary homicide, pledging that “everything will be done to identify the perpetrators of this despicable act.” He also expressed his “support” for law enforcement officers “who intervene under difficult conditions.”
When police and gendarmes “use force, in accordance with my instructions, they are not facing protesters but rioters,” the minister concluded.
Teenager Detained as Investigation Continues
A 17-year-old student at the school was detained shortly afterward. He “did not participate directly but admits he was present in the group of attackers,” the prosecutor said, adding that the teenager had no prior criminal record and that his role had not yet been determined. His custody remained ongoing.
The prosecutor said videos were “currently being analyzed,” in which “we can clearly distinguish several individuals striking the police commander directly in the head, with remarks that at this stage leave little doubt as to the intent to attack.”
Investigations are continuing to identify the other members of the group. The violence unfolded on the margins of blockades organized around high schools across France, part of a broader wave of student mobilization.
