France: at least 12 journalists attacked during student protests

From Paris to Marseille, journalists covering the protests by high school and university students that have spread across France since 21 September have faced repeated violence. At least 12 have been attacked, physically or verbally: six by demonstrators or other individuals and six by law enforcement officers. All were clearly identifiable as journalists and some had informed police officers that they were news professionals. These incidents run counter to the provisions of France's National Law Enforcement Plan (SNMO), adopted by the interior ministry, which guarantees journalists the right to cover police operations and to be protected by officers.

Journalists targeted by protesters

Two journalists from the 24-hour news channel BFMTV were jostled, assaulted and insulted on 29 September outside the Paul-Éluard lycée - a secondary school roughly equivalent to high school - in Saint-Denis, a suburb of the French capital, Paris. They were then escorted away for their safety, and the network said it would file a complaint. The same day in Lille, Zack Ajili, a correspondent for the news channel LCI, and his colleague, a camera operator who requested anonymity, were attacked by demonstrators and forced to quickly leave the scene.

The intimidation continued the next day in the eastern city of Dijon, where a journalist from the local news site Dijon Actualités, who was clearly identifiable as a member of the press, was approached by a young man brandishing a knife who ordered him to stop filming outside the school Lycée Le Castel, where he was covering the protest. On 8 October, the same journalist was struck in the back by an assailant. Two complaints have been filed.

In the Mediterranean city of Marseille, a correspondent for the network M6 was surrounded and repeatedly beaten on Thursday, 1 October, while covering the blockade of the Lycée Saint-Exupéry in the city's 15th arrondissement neighbourhood. He suffered a head wound and his camera was destroyed. That afternoon, in the southern town of Manosque, a reporter for the local branch of the news channel BFM DICI, which covers the southern Alps and Haute-Provence region, was insulted and shoved while covering the school blockade before being escorted away for her safety.

Police violence against reporters

Several journalists were also subjected to violence by police. In the city of Lyon on 2 October, a reporter for the monthly Lyon Mag had her phone thrown to the ground by a member of the CRS riot police after she identified herself. That same day, in the city of Fréjus, a journalist for the regional daily Var Matin was verbally abused and struck with a baton by a police officer despite showing his press card.

The same day, in the city of Montpellier, Valentin Levetti, publication director of the independent online outlet Stup.media, was hit in his right shin by a motorcyclist identified as a plainclothes police officer wearing no armband or badge number, as Valentin Levetti filmed an arrest on Rue Balard, near the Lycée Georges-Clémenceau. He was clearly identifiable as a journalist, wearing an armband and helmet and carrying a bag all marked "press." Two doctors who examined the individual noted a hematoma and abrasions and prescribed medical leave. A third doctor, examining the individual four days after the assault, noted an injury that resembled a sprain of his right knee. On 8 October, the journalist filed a complaint with the Montpellier public prosecutor, alleging aggravated assault by a public official using an object as a weapon.

Also in Montpellier, Samuel Clauzier, a journalist who works for several outlets, including the news site Rue89 Bordeaux, was attacked three times by riot police officers on 6 October. Wearing a helmet, four press badges and an armband, he was clearly identifiable as press and kept his distance so as not to hinder police operations. He was first struck in the chest with a shield. Minutes later, an officer hit his phone with a baton as he filmed a police intervention. An hour later, at around 5 p.m., a police officer violently struck him in the back, sending his equipment flying several yards.

The same day, in Paris, a riot police officer grabbed Mike Strachinescu, a journalist with the daily L'Humanité, by the throat twice even though he had shown his press card to the officers.

The violence continued during the protests on 8 October. While covering a rally at the Place de la Bastille in Paris for The Wall Street Journal, the photographer Patrick Wack was hit at point-blank range by a flashball round. He was wounded in the ear and required stitches that night.

These attacks come amid a wider rise in violence against journalists covering social movements in France in recent years. In 2025, RSF condemned police violence against several journalists at the yearly march held on 1 May. In September 2025, during the Bloquons Tout ("block everything") protests, journalists were physically obstructed from reporting by police. During the unrest sparked by the 2023 death of French teenager Nahel Merzouk at the hands of the police, no fewer than 18 media workers were attacked by rioters.

If you are a journalist and have been the victim of violence or intimidation during the ongoing protests, contact us at: [email protected]