French Prosecutors Open Attempted Murder Investigation After Petrol Bomb Attacks

Paris prosecutors opened an attempted murder investigation Sunday following petrol bomb attacks that injured security forces during weekend protests in the French capital.

The probe specifically addresses charges of attempted murder of persons vested with public authority after homemade incendiary devices and projectiles struck police and gendarmes on Saturday. Video recordings and photographic evidence documented an incendiary device detonating at the feet of a protective officer, engulfing his lower uniform and legs in flames. Two colleagues moved to extinguish the blaze while an approaching bystander who attempted to smother the fire with his bare hands was forcibly restrained by another officer.

The struck gendarme later explained that forces mistook the civilian, whom he identified as an apparent street medic, for an attacker in the chaotic confrontation. Prosecutors stated that around fifteen military gendarmes and civil police officers came under attack from rioters throwing glass bottles, paving stones, and Molotov cocktails. Medical evaluations confirmed injuries among security personnel, including second-degree burns.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez characterized the level of street violence as extraordinary. Prosecutors reported that investigators are analyzing social media footage and have identified three individuals wearing black attire associated with Black Bloc tactics as primary suspects. No arrests have been made in connection with the firebombing. Demonstrations against increasing living costs and public service conditions drew hundreds of thousands of participants across French cities for a third consecutive weekend.