Three officers from the tactical police RAID (Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence) unit in Marseille were charged on Thursday, August 10, after 48 hours in police custody, for armed violence unintentionally causing death. The death of Mohamed Bendriss, 27, was probably caused by blast-ball fire during the night of looting from July 1 to early in the morning on July 2. However, the examining magistrates in charge of the investigation served the three officers with a judicial supervision order described by some as "just a formality."

This measure prohibits them from entering into contact with civil parties or taking part in interventions concerning urban violence or major events on public roads. It does not prohibit them from carrying weapons or taking part in the usual missions of this elite tactical unit of the French national police. The Marseille public prosecutor’s office had not requested any specific security measures, leaving it up to the judges to decide.

According to a detailed statement from the prosecutor’s office, the investigation conducted by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) and the criminal investigation department established that the victim was taking part in the looting that evening. This was just before he was found in cardio-respiratory arrest on Cours Lieutaud, in front of his mother’s home, where he was riding his scooter at around 1 am. According to the prosecutor’s office, images from the city’s video surveillance cameras and from the vehicle leading the line of RAID officers show that Bendriss, on his scooter, tried to grab a bag of shoes stolen from a Foot Locker store on rue Saint-Ferréol, carried by a man who was fleeing.

When questioned, the fugitive reportedly confirmed that a man on a two-wheeled vehicle had pursued him and taken his bag by force. The shoe store and its stockpiles had been looted several times until the early hours of the morning. Two men were sentenced in early July to 12 and 15 months imprisonments. The store manager had stated in the proceedings that 60% of his inventory had been stolen.

Contrary to the assurances of those close to Bendriss that he had not taken part in the looting and had merely filmed the arrests with his phone, the prosecutor’s office considers that he was "involved in fraudulent appropriation as part of generalized looting of downtown stores, providing a basis for intervening to arrest the perpetrators."

As Bendriss fled on his scooter, the video recording shows the RAID officers using their defensive ball launchers six times. One of the three defendants was apparently the policeman in the turret of a light armored vehicle, while another was apparently in an unmarked vehicle following behind, from which the video footage shows a weapon sticking out of the window. The officer in the unmarked vehicle explained to the judge that he had aimed at Bendriss’s scooter, which was indeed hit by a bean bag shot when it was found. The third official who has been charged was apparently a driver, who has insisted he did not use a weapon.

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