France Suspends Stun Grenades at School Protests After Teen Loses Hand in Lens
France has suspended the use of stun grenades by police at high-school protests after a 15-year-old lost his hand in Lens.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez ordered the temporary pause in the middle of the high-school protest movement. Speaking on RTL radio on Wednesday, Oct. 7, he said it will stay in place until officials know exactly what happened in Lens. The Guardian
The injury happened on the morning of Monday, Oct. 5, outside a high school in Lens in northern France. The boy's hand was torn off when a grenade exploded. His mother said Wednesday the hand had to be amputated and that her son had not tried to pick up the device. Police have not confirmed whether he picked it up or was struck by it. Officials said up to 200 protesters were throwing projectiles at police when riot officers intervened. On Tuesday, Nuñez said the teenager was hurt by a "grenade assourdissante," a stun grenade designed to disorient crowds with a loud blast. The prosecutor in Béthune said the IGPN, France's body for investigating police conduct, has opened an inquiry into the injury. Franceinfo
The Lens teenager was protesting run-down and short-staffed schools. That complaint has grown into a national high-school movement. On Monday, 400 to 500 of France's 3,700 high schools were expected to close fully or partly ahead of student protests around the country. RTL At least 250,000 pupils, parents, teachers and union members marched in cities across France on the largest protest day.
President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency cabinet meeting after the mass demonstrations. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is due to speak on Wednesday about the protests and state finances.
Injuries have risen on all sides. At least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff have been hurt since the protests began. About 750 police officers have been wounded. Nuñez said 18 internal police investigations have been opened over claims of brutality during the demonstrations.
Twenty-four schools have been burned or ransacked. More than 6,500 people, almost all of them minors, have been arrested. More than 1,800 people are being prosecuted, nearly 1,500 of them under 18, according to the justice ministry.
The broader context here is a government facing two pressures at once. A weapon normally used for crowd control has severely injured a minor, and policing schoolchildren draws closer public scrutiny than policing adults in street clashes. The pause allows time for the IGPN findings, while Lecornu's address will test whether leaders can treat school conditions and public order as separate issues.
