No evidence suggests French police joined Oct. 24 protest march
On Oct. 25, an X post in Spanish claimed that French police officers had joined the demonstrators and walked with them at the front of a protest march.
The post garnered 80,000 likes and 17,000 shares. The same video circulated on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube with the same Spanish caption, as well as in an Arabic-language post on Facebook.
However, Annie Lab found no evidence that the officers had joined the demonstration. Available footage, news photographs, expert analysis, and official descriptions of police crowd-management practices indicate that they were carrying out their public-order duties.
What the protest was about
A Reuters news photo (archived here) shows the same protest, with a French flag in the background and a man in a yellow vest and a cap holding another French flag.
The caption describes the event as an authorized protest on Oct. 24 against rising costs of living and fuel prices. It says the demonstration involved French students and was linked to the “yellow vest” movement.
Annie Lab geolocated the viral video to 3 Boulevard Poniatowski in Paris. The location matches part of the protest route reported by Sortir à Paris, a popular online guide for leisure activities in the city.
Two days before the protest, President Emmanuel Macron announced additional security measures and curfews ahead of expected demonstrations initiated by “groups without legitimacy.”
Local media reported that government spokesperson Maud Bregon said restoring public order was a priority before discussions could take place with student organizations.
What the footage shows
Officers from France’s Republican Security Companies (Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité), known by the French abbreviation CRS, were positioned at the front of the Oct. 24 march.
The CRS specializes in maintaining public order and is best known for riot and crowd control, according to the national newspaper Le Monde (archived here).
A YouTube video from the channel “Chris Must List RAW” shows CRS officers lined up with riot shields and helmets. At 28:28, markings such as “1b” and “2b” are visible on the backs of their uniforms.
At 26:28, 26:50, and 28:53, officers can be seen walking in formation at the front of the march. The footage does not show them chanting slogans, carrying protest signs or otherwise indicating that they were participating in the demonstration.
“Everything seems fairly organized at this point. Police presence is very high. I haven’t seen any military at all. No tanks, no vehicles of that nature,” the content creator says in the video.
At 59:32, four police officers are seen arresting a person wearing a black hoodie. A group of protesters are seen throwing tear gas on the streets a few minutes before this happened.
A separate YouTube livestream by CNBC shows the march from the front.
At 6:25, a police officer directs members of the public and the press to move out of the way. Four minutes later, CRS officers stop, turn to face the march, and position their riot shields in front of them.
Jacques de Maillard, a political science professor at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin (University Paris-Saclay) who studies security governance and police reforms, told Annie Lab by email that it was highly improbable that CRS officers would join a demonstration.
Such an action would cause a scandal in France, he said. He added that the footage appeared consistent with the police’s role in managing and directing demonstrations.
Police duties during demonstration
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said at a press conference that about 70,000 security personnel would be deployed nationwide in connection with the Oct. 24 demonstrations.
He said personnel from several units, including the Brigade de Recherche et d’Intervention, the Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale, and Operation Sentinelle, had been mobilized to help maintain order.
France introduced a national crowd-control framework, the Schéma national du maintien de l’ordre, or SNMO, in 2020 following the yellow vest protests. It sets out law enforcement practices for managing different types of demonstrations.
The SNMO framework describes tactics to counter violence during protests. It also says authorities should seek to reduce tensions and maintain communication with demonstrators where possible. Priorities include securing, escorting and directing gatherings along their designated routes.
Annie Lab contacted the Paris Police Prefecture by phone and email, with assistance from native French speaker Ilo Rabarison, to ask about the officers’ role during the Saturday demonstration.
A police representative acknowledged the receipt of our email and said the request was being processed but gave no estimate of when a response would be available.
A similar claim circulated in 2021
A similar claim circulated in France in 2021 after footage of demonstrations against COVID-19 health pass requirements showed police officers at the front of a march.
As AFP reported at the time, social media users falsely claimed that the officers had joined the protesters.
The Paris Police Prefecture told the news agency the deployment was standard procedure. Police and gendarmes are routinely stationed at the front and back of demonstrations to maintain public order.
Separate protests by police
According to the Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information, French public servants are subject to restrictions while carrying out their official duties. Active National Police officers, including CRS members, are also legally barred from striking.
Euronews reported that on Sept. 4, Nunez met with three police unions that complained about handling of their budget requests. About two weeks later, French police officers protested in Paris as led by Alliance Police Nationale union.
Alliance Police Nationale posted a compilation of photographs on Facebook on Sept. 15. In another Facebook post, the union expressed support in French for colleagues deployed during the Oct. 24 protests.
