Plainclothes officer filmed throwing tear-gas grenade at Reims protest

A video filmed in Reims on October 2 shows a plainclothes officer throwing a tear-gas grenade toward a group of protesters during a student demonstration.

The officer belonged to France’s anti-crime brigade, and the local prefecture and witnesses said he threw the grenade at the group.

European Parliament member Anthony Smith, who was at the demonstration, called the incident police provocation.

French law requires officers carrying out crowd-control duties to be identifiable, according to a criminal law professor.

He said an officer in plain clothes must wear uniform items or a police armband when doing that work.

The officer in the video had no visible armband or police identification number.

The Reims prosecutor said the intervention complied with the law.