Nine officers from the French riot police are on trial in Paris. They are accused of beating peaceful protesters during the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) demonstrations in 2018. These protests began over rising fuel taxes and grew into large anti-government demonstrations. The officers are charged with aggravated intentional violence by people in public authority. If convicted, they could face seven years in prison and fines up to €100,000. The accused belong to the CRS riot police division from Chalon-sur-Saône. On December 1, 2018, they entered a Burger King near Paris’s Arc de Triomphe. Non-violent protesters and journalists had taken shelter there from teargas. The restaurant was closed, but protesters forced their way in as they struggled to breathe. Police received orders to quickly clear the Burger King. Court videos show some protesters raising their hands to show they were not hostile. Despite this, officers used batons and kicked people, some lying on the ground. One person was struck 27 times by six officers. Some protesters screamed, “We’re going to die.” That Saturday, over 5,000 people were demonstrating in Paris. Some masked individuals caused damage to the Arc de Triomphe and nearby shops. Police faced violent attacks, leading to 318 arrests and 263 injuries, including 23 police officers. Authorities called it the hardest day to maintain order. Manon, a protester who sheltered inside Burger King, told Le Parisien, “The riot police had hit and hit, it didn’t stop.” Lawyer Arié Alimi said the trial marks a key moment of the “brutalisation” of policing during the gilets jaunes protests. Defence lawyer Laurent-Franck Liénard said officers faced extraordinary violence that day. The nine officers appeared in court in uniform but were asked to remove badges and insignia. They came back wearing plain white shirts. Official numbers reveal about 2,500 protesters and 1,800 police officers were injured during the year-long unrest. Activists reported 24 protesters lost an eye and five lost a hand due to police weapons. Earlier, in December 2019, a CRS officer was given a two-month suspended sentence for wilful violence after being filmed throwing a paving stone at a protester during the same protests.