France Suspends ASSD Stun Grenade Use in High‑School Protests

Overview

• Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced on Wednesday that use of ASSD stun grenades would be suspended for actions tied to the lycéen movement after a 15‑year‑old protester in Lens suffered a severe hand injury.
• The national police director, Louis Laugier, sent a telegram that placed the ASSD (Alsetex) 'projected by launcher' under a conservatory suspension while the circumstances of the Lens case are established.
• Technical reporting shows the ASSD is classed in France as category A2, produces a roughly 160 dB blast, is not designed to fragment like a combat grenade and still carries a real risk of serious harm including hearing loss and blunt trauma.
• Public statements from the Interior Ministry and the DGPN differ in scope and wording, leaving police units and observers unclear about which grenade models and operational rules are affected and prompting questions from journalists.
• Police officers have voiced anger at the symbolic withdrawal even as reporting suggests only a small number of ASSD rounds were used in the lycéen protests, and the case has revived longer‑running debates over the use and oversight of intermediate‑force crowd‑control weapons.