Photographer ‘Almost Died’ After Police Hit Him With Grenade While Covering Paris Protests

A photographer, who was covering the Paris protests, reportedly almost bled to death after he was struck by a police grenade.

A 25-year-old photographer identified as Ahmed B was gravely injured by police during the demonstration in Paris, France, on October 17, according to a report by AFP. Over the last month, more than 400,000 people have been protesting across France over school funding and soaring living costs.

Ahmed had come to the French capital to document the demonstration when he was allegedly struck by a grenade shot by a police officer while taking photos at Place de la République. According to a complaint filed by lawyers on behalf of Ahmed, the police grenade struck the photographer in the femoral artery of his thigh.

The lawsuit alleges that Ahmed nearly bled to death at Place de la République as a result of the grenade and that police did not come to his aid.

“He almost died,” the photographer’s lawyer Me Arié Alimi tells AFP. “The police did not help him, letting him bleed out on the sidewalk.”

On Thursday, Alimi filed a civil lawsuit on Ahmed’s behalf alleging “attempted voluntary homicide” against the photographer. Ahmed was reportedly left seriously injured in the incident. The lawsuit accuses the police of deliberately causing serious physical harm to Ahmed, which has potentially left him permanently disabled or disfigured.

Following the lawsuit, the Paris public prosecutor’s office announced on Saturday that it was opening of an investigation entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) into the law enforcement methods used against the photographer during the October 17 demonstrations.

The prosecutor’s office says it wanted to “prevent any loss of evidence,” and it opened the investigation for “violence by a person holding public authority, followed by mutilation or permanent disability, during a demonstration in a public place.”

The French government has deployed 70,000 security officials, including elite anti-terror forces, against protesters whose core demands have centered on providing more money for schools and help with the cost of living. Demonstrations have drawn more than half a million people, with some protests descending into violence and looting.