French authorities have opened an investigation after footage emerged showing a police officer violently throwing a 29-year-old man to the ground in Carcassonne, renewing scrutiny over police violence days after a separate racism scandal involving officers in the southern city.
The incident occurred on 21 June during France’s Fête de la Musique. Video shows an officer grabbing Youssef E. from behind and throwing him onto the pavement, with his head appearing to strike the ground.
Youssef died 13 days later, on 3 July. Prosecutors have stressed that investigators have so far found no causal link between the incident and his death. An autopsy found no suspicious traumatic injuries and pointed instead towards a toxicological cause linked to a history of drug use.
His family also says it is not linking his death to the officer’s actions but wants the officer held accountable for the use of force.
The Marseille branch of France’s police watchdog, the IGPN, is investigating suspected intentional violence by a person holding public authority.
The case comes days after four municipal police officers in Carcassonne were suspended following the release of body-camera footage containing racist, misogynistic, homophobic and conspiratorial remarks.
The recordings, made during a November 2025 patrol and published this month, captured officers repeatedly using racist slurs against Black people, Arabs and migrants. One officer also discussed the prospect of a coup and dictatorship.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the comments as “unworthy” of the police uniform and ordered an inspection of Carcassonne’s municipal force.
One of the officers implicated in that scandal is also visible at the scene of the intervention involving Youssef, although he was not the officer who threw him to the ground.
The two cases have added to a longstanding debate in France over police violence, racial discrimination and accountability within law enforcement, issues repeatedly raised by rights organisations and brought into sharp focus by previous high-profile deaths and allegations of discriminatory policing.
Ukraine has almost run out of Patriot interceptor missiles, leaving the country vulnerable to Russian ballistic missile attacks, U.S. newspaper The...
The U.S. has banned government employees working in Saudi Arabia from using airports in the country without special authorisation. It com...
France is preparing for a fresh wave of nationwide demonstrations this weekend as rising living costs, educatio...
Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for the recent drone and missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran and Riyadh and at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, vowing to carry out more attacks in the coming days.
The Saudi-led coalition said early Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Ukraine's soldiers have had their access to Starlink satellite internet restricted. Kyiv's troops use the terminals, made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, to pilot drones. A source in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said the restrictions would make it harder for Kyiv's army to down Russian drones.
Ukraine is set to restart attacks on Russian oil refineries following a two-day pause, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, amid growing tensions with Washington over energy strikes and U.S. military support.
Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola, intensifying efforts to prevent the spread of the virus after the country recorded its first-ever infection earlier this month.
Ukraine has almost run out of Patriot interceptor missiles, leaving the country vulnerable to Russian ballistic missile attacks, U.S. newspaper The Washington Post reported on Friday. The country has just two Patriot missile remaining, a Ukrainian official spoken to by the newspaper said.
A 16-year-old shooter opened fire on Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon in the United States, killing four people, including three children, before being killed by an armed member of the community who had pursued the assailant into the school, police said.
France is preparing for a fresh wave of nationwide demonstrations this weekend as rising living costs, education concerns and growing political tensions converge into one of the most significant protest movements seen in the country in recent years.
British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has called for closer cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States, arguing that the transatlantic partnership remains essential to addressing modern security challenges and maintaining stability across Europe.
Ukraine is set to restart attacks on Russian oil refineries following a two-day pause, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, amid growing tensions with Washington over energy strikes and U.S. military support.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment