On Saturday, October 11th, the rap group L2B organized a free concert at the Les Halles cultural hotspot in Paris. While the first part of the musical performance took place without incidents, the police asked the musicians to cancel the second part, “given the large crowd and to avoid any overflow,” Le Journal de Dimanche reported. While the capacity of the venue was limited to 800 people, only 45 minutes after the doors opened nearly 2,000 people were counted.
Despite precautions taken by the authorities, the situation quickly escalated. Videos posted on X show police being forced to use tear gas to disperse protesters, who were throwing objects, including glass bottles, at the police. In one video that is going viral a plainclothes police officer can be seen wrestled to the ground and then repeatedly kicked, including in the head. In total, four police officers were injured and eight people were arrested.
“With a feeling of impunity, offenders think they can do whatever they want. It is urgent to re-establish boundaries that must not be crossed,” Rassemblement National President Jordan Bardella stated on Sunday, October 12th on X. “With us, there will be a simple rule: if you touch a police officer, you sleep in prison,” Bardella declared.
“Any physical attack against a police officer should have only one outcome: for the perpetrator, a firm, immediate and non-reducible prison sentence,” tweeted Marine Le Pen.
Le Pen reminded that “not a week goes by without the French witnessing, indignant and disgusted, these unbearable scenes of violence against the police,” adding that the brutal attack on the plainclothes police officer is a symptom of “a failed state, incapable of enforcing order and protecting those who ensure our daily security.”
