On Wednesday 7 October 2026, a day of “internal democracy time” (translated) announced by the Prime Minister, a pupils’ blockade has been preventing access to the technological lycée Marie-Curie, in the 5th arrondissement of Marseille, since 7:30 a.m. According to La Provence, it takes place calmly, with no bin fire or firecracker: the pupils have placed containers in front of the entrance and are holding a sit-in in front of the gates, joined by some of their teachers. Around 9 a.m., the CRS intervene.
The teachers and pupils describe, in a statement cited by ICI, France 3, 20 Minutes and La Provence, a “totally peaceful” (translated) gathering: the teachers, seated, form a human chain between the police officers and the pupils, everyone sits on the ground “as a sign of determination but also of non-violent action” (translated), then the charge is ordered. A history teacher tells ICI that the chain was trampled, that a colleague received a baton blow and that several were driven away by force; a French teacher tells La Provence: “We got trampled […]. Nothing was happening, everything was calm.” (translated) A pupil tells ICI Provence-Alpes she heard only one warning in the rain (France 3); La Provence writes that the CRS charged “after a warning” (translated); Marsactu writes that no one on site confirms having heard one.
The police prefecture gives a different chronology: about a hundred people, some with their faces covered, blocked the lycée and the public highway; the CRS came to unblock access; they “came under firework mortar fire from the protesters” (translated), then gave several warnings, and used tear gas to disperse; “no grenade of another kind was used” (translated). These shots and the injured CRS are the subject of a linked entry. La Provence, for its part, writes that the blockade was taking place without firecrackers before the charge: the two accounts are not reconciled.
A lycée pupil is injured in the head: “a lot of blood on his skull” (translated) according to a teacher, two injured pupils according to the teachers’ statement; the marins-pompiers confirm the call-out for a person with a head injury and a bin fire, and the prefecture confirms the injury while saying it does not know the circumstances. A lycée pupil presented as the author of mortar shots is arrested (prefecture, via ICI, France 3 and La Provence). The teachers announce that they will not go back to work and call for mobilisation the next day. No complaint or referral to the IGPN (police internal affairs) is reported in the articles read as of 7 October 2026; the Marsactu article could be read only in part (subscribers only).
Follow-up
On 8 October, the Marseille public prosecutor’s office confirms to AFP that it has opened an investigation for “intentional violence” (translated) after the head injury of a pupil during the charge; according to La Provence, cited by Marsactu, the investigation is entrusted to the IGPN (police internal affairs) (Marsactu). Actu Marseille (9 October) writes that the investigation is opened for “intentional violence by a person vested with public authority and with a weapon” (translated) and that the IGPN has been brought in, speaking of a 17-year-old teenager injured in the head, “apparently by a baton blow” (translated) (actu Marseille).
On 9 October, according to France 3 (ICI Provence-Alpes), the lycée pupil is questioned by the IGPN as part of the investigation for “intentional violence by a person vested with public authority and with a weapon” (translated), then holds a press conference with his teachers and his lawyers. He recounts: “The CRS started to charge us and to give us shield blows, kicks. We ran off to avoid the blows, one CRS grabbed me and another one behind me gave me a baton blow” (translated); he received six stitches in the head. His lawyer says that a complaint was filed that morning, after a call from the IGPN, which contacted the adolescent’s legal guardians to encourage them to file it, that “the public prosecutor had no other choice because the video was circulating everywhere […] and it was damning for the police officer implicated” (translated), and that “the CRS reportedly gave a first warning” (translated), whereas the offence is constituted, in his view, only from two warnings (the lawyer’s remarks). The lycée pupil specifies that the extinguisher visible in the video belonged to a classmate, who had it to put out a possible fire, the lycée having given some to the pupils. He is waiting to be examined by a forensic doctor: no ITT (days of total incapacity for work) is reported at this stage. No charge against a police officer is reported. According to the lawyer, several witnesses say they did not see the identification number (RIO) of the CRS officer; the lawyer asks the author of the blow to make himself known to the authorities.