Tear gas fired at 14-year-old's face fuels French protests and police-conduct row
In short
A New York Times video, reported by Korean outlets on 19 October, shows French police firing tear gas at the face of a 14-year-old boy at a vocational school protest on 28 September. The boy suffered a broken jaw and damaged teeth, and the officer is suspended. Accounts differ on whether the boy was a protester and whether the officer has been charged.
Read the full story 2 min read
Police overreach is being cited as one reason protests across France escalated, Korean outlets reported on 20 October, citing a video the New York Times published on 19 October. The video shows French police firing tear gas at the face of a 14-year-old boy, given the pseudonym Edang (에당), while dispersing a protest at a vocational high school outside Paris on 28 September. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Edang suffered a broken jaw and many damaged teeth. Medical records obtained by the NYT indicate at least six weeks of recovery, with a risk of lasting limits on jaw movement and chronic pain. His lawyer said he cannot speak or eat normally. Newsis reported that he had surgery the day after the incident. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Accounts of what happened differ. Hankook Ilbo said the interior ministry has claimed that Edang threatened a female officer and that a male officer fired to defend her, but the NYT video shows no moment when police were seriously threatened. Hankook Ilbo and Newsis described the sequence in the video: a woman officer struck the boy with a baton, he kicked back, and the male officer then fired the launcher almost horizontally. The officer told investigators he believed a colleague was in danger. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Prosecutors regard Edang as part of the protesters, Yonhap and Newsis reported. A teacher who was present says he did not take part. He texted his mother that the road was blocked and he was on his way home, and he filmed events from a car park about 50 metres away. Yonhap said the school mainly trains boys from low-income families and that he had enrolled only weeks earlier. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
The officer is suspended and under investigation. Yonhap said Edang's lawyer argues he should be prosecuted for attempted murder. Hankook Ilbo, citing Libération, said prosecutors charged the officer on 6 October with intentional violence causing permanent disability or mutilation, which carries up to 15 years in prison. It added that French law requires tear gas to be fired upward at 45 degrees unless there is self-defence. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
The NYT reported that prosecutors and inspection bodies are investigating at least 34 suspected cases of police misconduct during the protests. The French interior ministry said they include a 15-year-old whose left hand was severed by a stun grenade blast and a 16-year-old taken to hospital with an eye wound thought to be from a rubber bullet. Newsis added a 17-year-old with a serious hand injury from a grenade. The NYT said police actions against teenagers like Edang drew more students and citizens to protest and worsened unrest, including looting. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Hankook Ilbo reported that Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on 19 October that state authority had lost control. It said authorities had expected 200,000 protesters on 17 October and deployed 60,000 police, but 600,000 came. Sebastien Roche of the National Centre for Scientific Research said the government's policing methods of the past decade are now applied to teenagers, and urged a reassessment of such weapons. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The outlets say the case angered people across France and led to larger protests, and the NYT said police treatment of teenagers gave protesters more reason to rally. Prosecutors and inspection bodies are examining at least 34 alleged police offences during the protests.
Key facts
- On 28 September, French police dispersing a protest at a vocational high school outside Paris fired tear gas at the face of a 14-year-old boy, known by the pseudonym Edang (에당), according to a video the New York Times published. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The boy suffered a broken jaw and damaged teeth, and medical records obtained by the NYT point to at least six weeks of recovery. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The officer who fired is suspended and under investigation. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Prosecutors and inspection bodies are investigating at least 34 suspected cases of police misconduct during the protests, the NYT reported. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- A 15-year-old lost his left hand to a police stun grenade blast, and a 16-year-old was taken to hospital with an eye injury thought to come from a rubber bullet. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on 19 October that state authority had lost control, according to Hankook Ilbo. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The NYT video shows police firing tear gas at the 14-year-old's face from close range, and he suffered a broken jaw and many broken teeth. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The officer who fired is suspended from duty and under investigation. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- The boy's lawyer says he cannot speak or eat normally. [ 1 , 2 ]
- At least 34 suspected police offences from the crackdown are under investigation, including a 15-year-old's lost left hand and a 16-year-old's eye injury. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The officer told investigators he believed colleagues were in danger. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- Whether the boy took part in the protest. Prosecutors regard him as part of the protesters (Yonhap, Newsis), while a teacher at the scene and his texts to his mother suggest he did not take part.
- Whether the officer has been charged. Hankook Ilbo, citing Libération, says prosecutors charged him on 6 October with intentional violence causing permanent disability or mutilation. Yonhap says he is being investigated by prosecutors, and Newsis says the boy's lawyer asked prosecutors to consider an attempted murder charge.
- Whether the officer or a colleague was under serious threat. Hankook Ilbo says the interior ministry claimed the boy threatened a female officer, but the NYT video shows no moment of serious threat to police. The officer's own statement is reported as 0.1 second (Hankook Ilbo) and a few seconds (Newsis).
- The exact distance of the shot. Hankook Ilbo says the NYT put it at about 1.8 metres, while Yonhap, Newsis and Dong-A Ilbo say about 2 metres. Newsis spells the pseudonym Eden (에덴).