Police officer from Carcassonne to be tried on 6 November for assault on deceased young man
A national police officer filmed throwing a man to the ground during an operation in Carcassonne will be tried on 6 November. The victim died thirteen days after the incident, with no causal link established with the police action.
National officer referred for trial after viral video
According to TF1 Info, the public prosecutor's office in Carcassonne announced on Saturday 26 September that the national police officer suspected of assault during an operation on 21 June would be tried on 6 November before the magistrates' court. The officer had been taken into police custody the previous Friday as part of a procedure for "intentional violence by a person holding public authority", before being presented to the public prosecutor's office and referred for trial.
Until the hearing, the officer is placed under judicial supervision. The public prosecutor for the Republic in Carcassonne, Géraldine Labialle, specified in a statement that he is prohibited from "exercising any police activity or any activity linked to security, and prohibited from possessing a weapon".
Shocking images circulated on social media
The case came to light in mid-September, when the public prosecutor's office referred the matter to the General Inspection of the National Police (IGPN) in Marseille after becoming aware of a video circulating on social media. The images show a national police officer, intervening alongside members of the municipal police, seizing a young man from behind—the man was wearing a khaki sleeveless shirt and blue shorts—then violently throwing him to the ground. The victim's head hit the ground with force. He held his head for a few moments before being lifted up by police officers, whilst a group of shocked witnesses hurled insults.
The young man died on 3 July, thirteen days after the incident. However, prosecutor Labialle had indicated in mid-September that there was, "in the current state of investigations, no causal link between the filmed incident and the death". The autopsy carried out on 9 July had ruled out "any suspicious traumatic injury in favour of intervention by a third party". A toxic cause was attributed, given the young man's history of multiple substance abuse.
Local context marked by other controversies
The circulation of this video occurred in early September, shortly after another scandal involving Carcassonne municipal police officers, filmed making racist and sexist remarks. One of the officers implicated in this second case also appears in the images from 21 June: he is seen lifting the victim after the impact.
Carcassonne has been led since March by a mayor from the National Rally. Following the scandal of the racist remarks, Laurent Nuñez had condemned "unworthy comments" and ordered an inspection of the municipal police.
Source: TF1 Info