Multiple Minors Suffer Irreversible Injuries in French Student Protests; Police Use of Rubber Bullets an 'Outlier' in Europe

French police have used rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas against minors during nationwide student protests lasting more than two weeks, causing multiple middle school students to suffer irreversible injuries. According to Reuters, France's police oversight body, the IGPN, has opened investigations into 24 such cases, involving a 14-year-old whose jawbone and teeth were shattered, and a 15-year-old whose hand was blown off.

In early October, in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone, a suburb northwest of Paris, 14-year-old Eden was sitting on a wall looking at his phone, several meters from the protest site, according to his lawyer. Based on officer statements cited by prosecutors, one officer approached and struck him with a baton; Eden then kicked the officer in response; immediately afterward, another officer fired a tear gas canister at his face using a Cougar launcher, fracturing his jawbone and shattering multiple teeth. "(The officer) shot at his mouth, then left him on the ground without even calling for emergency assistance," Marcel said. The family has filed attempted murder charges against the officer involved. Eight days after the incident, the officer was formally placed under investigation on charges of causing permanent disability or disfigurement through violence by a public official.

In Lens, in northern France, a 15-year-old's hand was blown off. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged the incident may have involved a stun grenade and has suspended the use of such weapons pending investigation results. In the Paris suburb of Argenteuil, a 16-year-old student was struck in the left eye by a projectile on his way home after schools were closed, potentially causing permanent damage. Attorney Sophia Kerbaa told Reuters it could not yet be determined whether the projectile that struck him was a rubber bullet. Prosecutors, citing police statements, said the teenager "appeared to be" one of two young people who had fired fireworks at officers.

Sebastian Roche, a policing researcher at France's National Center for Scientific Research, pointed out that this series of incidents constitutes a rare pattern in Europe. "France is an outlier in terms of weapon use and number of victims—four irreversible injuries within 12 days, all victims being minors," Roche told Reuters. "This level is unprecedented in (France's) contemporary history." He added that public order policing in the UK, Italy and Germany (except Hamburg) typically does not use rubber bullets and stun grenades; Spain permits their use but the resulting injuries are far fewer than in France.

Interior Ministry data shows approximately 200 students have been injured in the protests, with 6,877 people arrested, most of them minors; meanwhile, approximately 700 officers were injured during enforcement. Nunez claimed in a radio interview this week that student injuries were "rarely" caused by police action, but he provided no detailed breakdown. Reuters documented 28 cases of police-caused injuries based on interviews and legal documents, 15 of which fall within the scope of IGPN investigations, involving rubber bullets, stun grenades, tear gas, batons and cavalry charges.

UN human rights experts and rights groups including Amnesty International have repeatedly criticized these weapons over the years as "dangerous and excessive," calling for a comprehensive ban. Bally Bagayoko, mayor of Seine-Saint-Denis and a member of the left-wing party France Unbowed, joined local protests and called: "We must withdraw rubber bullets... aim for zero student injuries. That will help us achieve de-escalation."

Police union representative Thierry Clair defended the use of "intermediate force" measures: "When people move toward confrontation, how do we respond? If we eliminate intermediate force measures, all we have left is lethal force. That is absolutely unthinkable." He attributed the serious injuries to the violent behavior of "certain young people who stoke tensions."

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called the movement the most violent social movement in decades. Reuters reporting noted that the police response has intensified public anger and fueled a protest wave already rooted in deep discontent with the Macron government—a movement occurring on the eve of the 2027 presidential election, with issues expanding from campus conditions to questions about the state's tools of violence themselves.

Regarding Eden's case, Marcel said the teenager was sitting on a wall looking at his phone, several meters from the protest site; prosecutors, citing officer statements, said that after an officer approached and struck him with a baton, Eden kicked at the officer. The two sides' accounts of what happened diverge, and the IGPN investigation is ongoing.