Prosecutors in Tours have opened an investigation after a 22-year-old TikTok creator filed a complaint saying he was injured in the eye by the explosion of a police “disencirclement grenade” during a demonstration on Saturday, November 1. The protest was part of the third day of a social mobilisation, according to the report.
The deputy public prosecutor, Delphine Amacher, told AFP on Wednesday, November 4, that a complaint had been received and that she had ordered an investigation into alleged violence with a weapon, without total incapacity for work being recorded at that stage.
Enzo Gimgembre, a Tours resident, said he had gone to the demonstration to film. In his complaint, he said a small group of riot police moved away from the main group and a grenade was thrown in his direction. He said he collapsed when it exploded and was hit in the left eye by a piece of black rubber.
After receiving help from street medics, Gimgembre went to hospital on his own. He said he was later issued a medical certificate recognising ten days of incapacity for work, subject to change. The certificate recorded that his left eye could detect a hand moving at a distance of one metre. He also reported blurred vision, continuing pain, vomiting and difficulty breathing after the incident.
Gimgembre said he had to insist before police accepted his complaint on Monday, after two earlier refusals, and said he was counting on city cameras to help establish what happened. The Tours prefecture declined to comment to AFP.
The report also notes an earlier case in Tours involving a 16-year-old student who lost an eye on September 30 during events around a school blockade. An IGPN investigation found that two police officers had fired LBD launchers a minute apart. One officer was charged with aggravated violence and placed under judicial supervision; the other was given assisted-witness status.
Sources: Le Monde Politique.