Interior Minister "Will Not Relinquish Any Intermediate Means" Such as Grenades and Tear Gas During Protests
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has rejected calls from lawmakers to stop using grenades and tear gas during demonstrations, asserting that police forces require intermediate weapons for self-defense and denying the existence of "repression."
- Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez affirmed he will not abandon intermediate weapons like tear gas and grenades, stating police need them to defend themselves during protests.
- Responding to lawmakers questioning police actions following serious student injuries, Nuñez claimed that "repression does not exist" and that forces only intervene against violence.
- He dismissed concerns over the health impacts of tear gas, stating he has no knowledge of it being harmful and refusing to halt its use on a precautionary basis.
"Repression does not exist," replied Laurent Nuñez to lawmakers who demanded that law enforcement cease the use of grenades, following the serious injuries sustained by high school students during the mobilization movement.
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"I will not give up any intermediate means (grenades, tear gas…) for the simple reason that police officers need to defend themselves when they are attacked" during protests, the Interior Minister stated on Monday, November 2. Laurent Nuñez was being questioned by several lawmakers during a hearing on the Ministry of the Interior's 2027 budget before the National Assembly's Law Commission.
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Lawmakers urged him to abandon the use of grenades by law enforcement following the serious injuries of high school students during the mobilization movement. In response to LFI MP Gabrielle Cathala, who questioned police actions and spoke of "repression," he stated: "Repression does not exist (…). We are here to prevent disturbances of public order." "I am glad when a demonstration reaches its conclusion without us having to use force," he added.
"I intervene when there is violence and only in that case"
"I believe everyone must find some willingness to continue living together in the next six months" leading up to the presidential election. "I intervene when there is violence and only in that case," he insisted, pointing to "the people (…) who smash storefronts, attack law enforcement, and throw Molotov cocktails."
Laurent Nuñez answered that he had "no knowledge of tear gas being harmful, which is the basic intermediate weapon," responding to questions about the impacts of tear gas on women (some reported menstrual disorders after demonstrations). "In 2021-2022, a number of studies were conducted and no adverse effects were found; on the contrary, the effects wear off very quickly," he continued. "Therefore, I will not suspend the use of tear gas out of precaution."
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