France is bracing for a national day of protests and high-school blockades as a youth protest movement gathers pace amid a growing debate over the scale of the police response.
In one incident, a 15-year-old protesting against what demonstrators said were France’s dilapidated and understaffed schools had his hand blown off outside a high school in the northern town of Lens, said François-Xavier Lauch, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais.
Lauch declined to comment on the exact circumstances, but said between 150 and 200 protesters had been hurling a series of objects at police when riot officers intervened. It was uncertain if the incident had involved a police stun grenade or how the injury happened. Lauch said an investigation had been opened.
The family of a 16-year-old school pupil in Tours also filed a complaint about police violence after he lost sight in his right eye last week. The state prosecutor said the boy’s injuries were in line with the impact from a police rubber bullet. A police investigation is under way.
The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, had earlier attempted to calm the protests by accepting schoolchildren’s grievances as “legitimate” and saying the government must listen.
Only logical response to kids demanding proper education is to beat the living shit out of them. How dare they to question Authority Like that. /s
You don’t want them thinking they can take that attitude into the workplace! Imagine if they start thinking they can just demand more pay, or better working conditions! Madness!
ACAB
