French police officers convicted of violence against Yellow Vest protesters

Police officers accused of violence against Yellow Vest protestors inside a Burger King, at the Paris criminal court, February 9, 2026. OLIVIER ARANDEL/ LE PARISIEN /MAXPPP

On Tuesday, March 17, the Paris criminal court handed down suspended prison sentences ranging from six to 24 months to nine members of the CRS 43 riot police, who were absent at the pronouncement of the judgment.

The court found them guilty of unjustifiably striking Yellow Vest protestors who had taken shelter in a Burger King restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on December 1, 2018. In doing so, the court also recognized that the victims, of whom only four were identified and joined the proceedings as plaintiffs, had not behaved in any way that would justify the violence used by the officers.

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Five years after Yellow Vests protests, few have read their thousands of grievances