Disturbing Footage Shows French High School Students Knocking Out Police Commander And Repeatedly Kicking His Head During Chaotic School Protests In Belfort

Horrifying footage shows French high school students knocking a police commander unconscious before repeatedly kicking him in the head during chaotic school blockade protests in Belfort.

The sickening clip, which has spread rapidly online, captures the moment a plain-clothes police commander is ambushed, thrown to the ground and set upon by a group of youths near the Lycée Gustave Courbet on Friday morning.

In the video, filmed amid clouds of smoke on open ground beside the school, several young people in dark clothing and hoods can be seen swarming the officer after he is knocked down. Multiple individuals deliver forceful kicks and punches to his head and body while he lies motionless on the dirt and grass. Reinforcements later arrive to scatter the attackers.

The assault took place at around 9.15 am as the commander, who was in civilian clothes, had just apprehended a young man during the high-school blockades that have gripped France. The youth who was being detained used the distraction to flee. According to local authorities, that individual was carrying a bag containing hydrochloric acid and protective equipment.

Prosecutor Paul-Edouard Lallois described the officer being set upon by a “horde sauvage” of young people who forced him to the ground and rained blows of fists and feet upon him, particularly to the head. The commander briefly lost consciousness and suffered multiple facial wounds and cranial trauma. He was taken to the North Franche-Comté Hospital. His vital prognosis is not engaged and his condition no longer gives rise to major concern, officials said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez condemned the images as “of a rare violence” and “unbearable.” He confirmed the officer had been “deliberately targeted,” hospitalised after losing consciousness, and that everything would be done to identify those responsible for the “abject act.” Nuñez added that officers intervening under his instructions were facing rioters, not ordinary protesters, and offered his full support.

The Belfort prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for attempted voluntary homicide on a person vested with public authority, committed in a group. A 17-year-old student enrolled at the Lycée Courbet was arrested shortly afterwards. He has not been formally identified as one of those who struck the officer, and inquiries continue to establish his precise role. Police judiciaire and specialised crime units are leading the probe. No other suspects had been detained in the immediate aftermath.

The attack forms part of a wave of high-school blockades and clashes that escalated across France this week over school conditions and related grievances. Government figures indicated that 564 establishments were affected by actions or disruptions on Friday alone, with hundreds of mostly young people detained in recent days and dozens of officers injured nationwide. Separate incidents included a headmaster being doused with petrol and beaten in La Ciotat.

Police unions shared the Belfort footage, describing the scenes as intolerable. The commander’s identity has not been released. The investigation remains active.