French student protests: Police impunity ‘below' the standards of a 'well-functioning democracy’

Home France To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: © France 24 10:13 Issued on: 09/10/2026 - 08:55Modified: 09/10/2026 - 08:57 Erin Ogunkeye welcomes Dr. Antoine Marie, postdoctoral researcher, fellow and lecturer at Sciences Po / CEVIPOF, to explore the political psychology behind France’s student protests. Why do people witness the same events yet reach radically different conclusions about violence? Dr Marie examines how media echo chambers, partisan thinking and the politicization of empathy deepen polarization, making it easier to overlook the suffering of those perceived as political opponents. He also examines France’s increasingly offensive police doctrine, questions surrounding accountability, and the institutional incentives that may actually hinder independent investigations into police misconduct. Keywords for this article