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Activists Claim Anti-Police Projections at Lyon Light Festival as Authorities Open Inquiry

Regional authorities referred the case to prosecutors, with investigators reviewing surveillance to locate the projection point and identify those responsible.

Overview

  • Shortly during Saturday’s Fête des Lumières, messages such as “La police blesse et tue” and “Non à l’État policier” were projected onto the Musée des Beaux-Arts façade and widely shared online.
  • The local branch of Les Soulèvements de la Terre said it carried out the action, framing it as opposition to the far right and what it calls a “police state.”
  • Prefect Fabienne Buccio condemned the slogans as a message of hate and invoked Article 40 to trigger a judicial investigation, with no arrests publicly reported.
  • Investigators are analyzing video to determine where the images were launched—potentially from rooftops or outside the secured perimeter—and whether there were accomplices.
  • Officials highlighted a reinforced security posture for the festival with more than 500 national police and gendarmes, alongside municipal forces, as political figures and police unions issued strong denunciations.