Emblematic episode of the first demonstrations of “yellow vests”, the violence of December 1, 2018 in a Burger King located near the Arc de Triomphe led to the indictment of seven CRS.
An eighth CRS was indicted in September in Paris for “voluntary violence” on “yellow vests” in a Burger King on December 1, 2018, an emblematic episode of their first demonstrations, AFP learned Thursday from a close source folder. Jérôme P., aged 46 at the time of the events and police captain at the Republican Security Company 43 (CRS 43), based in Châlon-sur-Saône, was indicted for “willful violence by a person responsible for the ‘public authority’ and placed under judicial control.
December 1, 2018 was one of the most eventful demonstrations of the “yellow vests” in Paris with images of chaos among which the sacking of the Arc de Triomphe. In his interrogation, of which AFP has obtained elements, Jérôme P. describes an interminable day, started at 5.30 a.m. and ended at 1.30 a.m. the next day, with his troops becoming “zombies” through fatigue and “outburst of violence” : “We were retreating because we were going to be killed”.
Seven CRS have been indicted
Higher ranking inside the Burger King, this police captain had already been questioned in April 2019 but then said he was unable to recognize anyone on the videos of the events. Identified since, he assumed in front of the judge to have given at least eight blows of tonfa and one kick to a demonstrator. “Cold, I admit, we should never have acted like that”, loose Jerome P, adding that in view of the images, the demonstrators were “absolutely not hostile”. He questioned his hierarchy on several occasions, pointing to “a strategic mismanagement of public order that day” and assenting: “We should have refused the orders at one point.”
In this case, seven CRS were indicted in June 2020 and May 2021. In a June 2020 investigation report, the IGPN estimated that the demonstrators “had taken refuge inside the establishment because of the massive presence of tear gas on the avenue”. The investigation ruled out any looting. “Of all the blows of batons or kicks, none seemed justified, necessary or proportionate”, slice the police. “The indictment is not proof of guilt, it is the beginning of a procedure which is ongoing,” reacted the lawyer of this CRS, Me Laurent-Franck Liénard.
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