Police violence in Carcassonne: officer to stand trial in early November following death of Youssef
A national police officer will appear in court in early November after forcefully throwing a young man to the ground on 21 June in Carcassonne. The victim died thirteen days later.
Carcassonne police officer sent to trial after death of young man
A national police force official will stand trial in early November for voluntary violence after grabbing a young man from behind and forcefully throwing him to the ground on 21 June in Carcassonne, in the Aude department. According to Le Monde – Justice, video footage of the incident circulated widely on social media before the prosecution contacted the Marseille office of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).
The victim, Youssef, 29, died on 3 July, thirteen days after the filmed incident. The Carcassonne prosecutor's office stated that "to date, based on the state of investigations, there is (…) no causal link between the filmed incident and the death that occurred 13 days later". The autopsy, carried out on 9 July 2026, "ruled out any suspicious traumatic injury in favour of third-party involvement" and favoured a "toxic cause". The report concluded cardiac arrest with the cause remaining "undetermined".
Family contests portrait drawn by prosecution
Hamza, Youssef's brother, was interviewed on Monday 14 September by investigators from the IGPN's Marseille office, who travelled to Carcassonne police station — the establishment where the officer in question works. The family had filed a complaint the previous day.
When questioned by BFMTV, Hamza sought to correct the image of his brother after the prosecution had mentioned "known history of polysubstance abuse" and claimed that Youssef had been living on the streets since the age of 16. "My brother was not homeless, he had his room at our parents' place who live in a 130 square metre flat. He was not a polysubstance abuser either. He had smoked joints and drunk with his friends at the Music Festival, that's all," he stated. He added that his brother "did not deserve to suffer these acts of violence for that".
For Hamza, Youssef's death is not the only issue at stake in the legal battle underway. "But for us, it's not his death that is the problem here, it's police violence," he explained.
Local context already marked by scandal
The release of the video came shortly after another recording that caused a scandal in Carcassonne: municipal police officers made racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks. Hamza asserts that the municipal police officer most audible on that recording "talked like that every day" and that "there is general relief among Carcassonnais since his suspension".
According to Hamza, this same officer also appears in the video showing Youssef's assault. He does not see him delivering the filmed blows, but claims, based on testimony from people present, that the officer continued to act after the recording ended. "Once the video stopped, he shoves a young woman and goes after the other people, particularly my brother. He pours the fizzy drink over his face," he states.
Hamza, who runs a business in the town centre located "in front of the municipal police station", describes an officer whose behaviour was, according to him, known for a long time in the neighbourhood: "He would grab small children, people from diverse backgrounds, and he was violent with unacceptable remarks."
IGPN investigates for voluntary violence
The prosecution formally referred the Marseille IGPN to "judicial investigation on a charge of voluntary violence by a person holding public authority". This referral is directly linked to the video circulating on social media, which shows the national police officer grabbing Youssef from behind before throwing him to the ground.
Hamza said he hopes this procedure will mark a turning point. "We hope that police violence stops in Carcassonne and everywhere on the territory. The Carcassonne police officers we know them, they are brilliant. When you see this you are disgusted. Disgusted also for them and the other officers," he concluded.
Source: Le Monde - Justice