Carcassonne police officer trial over Fête de la musique violence, Digi Mart USA News (Carcassonne, France): A national police officer accused of violently throwing a homeless man to the ground in Carcassonne is appearing Friday before the Criminal Court on charges of willful violence by a person holding public authority.
The 43-year-old officer, with salt-and-pepper hair and a stocky build, gave his identity at the start of the hearing, and the court president began reviewing the case file. In an initial statement, he said the events were linked to “hostile citizens” who did not understand the purpose of the operation to stop a gathering with an “extremely loud volume” of sound.
The incident under prosecution took place during the most recent Fête de la musique on June 21, 2026, around 7:00 p.m. It became public through a video shared on social media in mid-September, a few days after a scandal caused by a separate recording of municipal police officers in Carcassonne making racist remarks.
The city has been led since March by a mayor from the National Rally (RN).
The 29-year-old man thrown to the ground died thirteen days later, but the autopsy carried out during the investigation found “no link between the filmed events and the death,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
The video shows the national police officer, accompanied by municipal officers, grabbing the young man from behind and violently throwing him to the ground in front of several large speakers and among a small group that was visibly intoxicated. The young man’s head strikes the pavement with force, and he holds his skull for several moments before officers pick him up, as a group of shocked bystanders shouts insults at the officers.
Asked specifically about his action, the defendant said he thought the victim “was going to harm” a municipal police officer present at the scene. The court president noted that the victim appeared unsteady and visibly heavily intoxicated, and that the other officers, questioned after the incident by the National Police’s internal affairs inspectorate (IGPN), never said they had felt in danger.
The officer said that an intoxicated person has an “unpredictable temperament” and a “behavior that may be disinhibited,” and therefore considered the young man a threat. When the president told him the video showed no aggressive behavior by the victim, whose arms hung loose, the officer said that “the camera angle can be misleading” or that he and the magistrate had “different perceptions.”
“I can understand that people may be shocked by these images,” he added, acknowledging a “violent gesture” but saying his intention was only to “push” the young man to the side.
The victim’s family, present at the hearing, has filed a complaint. Speaking to AFP earlier, a brother of the victim said, “We want the officer to be sanctioned for his action and for this not to happen again,” adding, “We know that most police officers do their job well.”
