A 15-year-old student has had their hand blown off after picking up a stun grenade being used by police as mass school protests continue across France, local authorities said.
The incident comes as nearly 500 schools are expected to be completely or partially closed following student protests across the country over dilapidated schools and classrooms, overcrowding and teacher shortages preceding a nationwide day of demonstrations on Tuesday.
Important safety tip. If you plan on throwing stuff back at the cops, stun grenades, tear gas canisters, etc, use a lacrosse stick.
Of course, having a lacrosse stick in a riot is an excuse for them to beat you mercilessly.
Of course, they don’t need an excuse.
I imagine the student thought it was a tear gas canister instead of the cops throwing explosives at children.
Tear gas canisters can get hot enough for 3rd degree burns.
Relevant user name.
In the comments, it’s mentioned that the police claim that he picked up the grenade, but there is an investigation into whether that is the case or it was launched at him directly.
Most of the patients I’ve had who became upper limb amputees from explosives had a closed hand around the explosive when it happened. You can hold something like a fire cracker in an open palm and walk away with mild burns. However, if you were holding the same firecracker in a closed fist I would be fitting you with a prosthetic in a few weeks.
Now I’m not sure exactly how much energy a stun grenade goes off with, but usually if the limb is irreparably damaged without also causing other bodily trauma, the patient was probably holding the device when it went off.
I can attest that because I blew myself up with a pistol flare in 2025 (long and stupid story). My left hand at the moment of the explosion was half-stretched out and the charge blew up a few centimeters below my hand. Only superficial burns to the hand and permanent hearing damage.
If I had the charge in a closed fist, it would have easily torn a hole through my hand. And that was just 2 grams NEC. A stun grenade is much more powerful than a pistol flare (my completely random guess: 20g NEC equivalent), so I reckon that eviscerating the entire hand is not out of the question.
It doesn’t take much depending on the hand position when it goes off. We usually get about 2-3 people blowing up their hands in the trauma ward every year at the hospital during the 4th of July.
Regardless of whether the kid picked up the grenade, the mere fact that the grenade was launched towards kid is already crossing the line. They always try to make the people focus other things. It doesn’t even matter to them whether it was shot at him or he picked it up. As long as the focus does not lie on them shooting the thing in the first place.
Some witness says the genade landed directly in his hand
That’s a weird way to say he caught it. The first sentence of the article says he picked it up. He doesn’t have to be a perfect victim to deserve sympathy or hold the pigs to account.
The article lies, because the police report it quotes lies.
mmm catching a grenade wouldn’t make him any less a victim. They launched a less lethal device close enough to someone for them to catch it, can’t really go target blaming.
These “protestors” set fire to schools and doused one headmaster in gasoline.
So we have gone from protest to just idiot violence.
Did this child do that, would they deserve losing a limb even if they had?
I read that undercover police did those
this is obviously serious stuff, but here’s an argument on why everyone should learn volleyball
Lacrosse does not exist as a sport in France
If you tell them the name they’ll work it out.
It means “the stick” or “the [sport] stick” in French.
French ≠ France. E.g. the largest French speaking country is the DRC. Lacrosse, despite its French name, is a North American sport, rooted in an indigenous practice. What I want to get to is that it would be really hard to find a lacrosse stick in France. I’m trying to figure out what would be easily accessible at a sports equipment store. Only thing I can think of is a tennis racket or maybe in south western France the Chisterac, a basket-glove for playing pelote basque.
Yes i know. That’s why i said “they’ll work it out”
Maybe a big, brightly coloured plastic toy shovel.
Not thermoplastic, as yeah that’s not going to survive the heat of an active smoke/gas grenade.
Depends on the country I guess. Carrying a Lacrosse stick could signal that you are white and rich, so cops can leave you be.
If in Canada, I would recommend a hockey stick. You can open carry those.
lacrosse net on one side, hock stick on the other
Bring the goalie mask too.
Umbrellas are a valid option at a protest, with a little 3d printing, you could have an attachable basket to attach to the handle.
And then you can shield yourself and others by opening the umbrella as needed.
Reminder that (some) policemen learned to ricochet rubber bullets off the ground. One comedian mentioned that in his set, said the bullet hit him straight into the nuts. As a USian he was obligated to appreciate the cool shot.
Brilliant!
Kevlar umbrella with tungsten reinforced frame?
Tungsten is too heavy. Just use a slightly thicker, hardened steel.
If you’re particularly crafty, it could be a fun machining project.
Username checks out