Moment French riot cop shoots teenage protester in the face with a grenade launcher at point-blank range 'tearing his mouth apart'

A police officer has sparked outrage in France after he shot a teen protester in the face with a grenade launcher at point blank-range, leaving him with his mouth 'torn apart'.Students have been protesting across France since last week, with pupils growing increasingly angry over budget cuts to education.Teenagers blocking entrances to schools have been accused of setting fires and clashing with police, with at least 10 students arrested. On Monday, tensions boiled over in the French department of Val-d'Oise when a teenager was hit in the face by a grenade launcher outside a high school. Footage shows a boy, dressed in black, coming face to face with a police officer. The riot cop throws a punch at the teen, who retaliates by kicking the policeman in the abdomen.The officer, who is standing less than one metre from the boy, then launches a grenade at him, with the impact knocking the teen onto the floor. This video grab captures the moment an officer, who is standing less than one metre from the boy, launches a grenade at him The impact knocked the teenager onto the ground He was left on the concrete writhing in pain The boy is then seen lying on the ground, writhing in agony as he clutches his face. A group of boys then run up to the teen and get him off the ground before ushering him away from riot police.The boy's mother told French newspaper Le Parisien that his mouth was 'torn apart.''All his upper teeth have been broken...We don't know yet what's left of his lower teeth,' she said. Two investigations have been opened by the public prosecutor's office to establish the circumstances around the incident.Sophie Binet, a trade unionist who is serving as the Secretary-general of the General Confederation of Labor, condemned the 'extremely shocking' incident and called it an act of 'police brutality.''These events must be fully investigated and the necessary sanctions imposed. 'If high school students want to mobilize, they must be able to do so, and the conditions must be in place to allow them to express their demands.''We cannot teach them about democracy at school and then, when they want to express themselves in a democracy, send the police after them,' Ms Binet said. Students, civil servants and healthcare workers have been protesting across France. A group of boys then ushered the teen away France has been rocked by protests over upcoming budget cuts. Pictured: Students gather in front of barricaded access gates during a blockade at the Lycee Paul-Eluard high school in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France, on September 29, 2026 A student walks past a burning bicycle next to the Baggio High School, blocked in protest of the government's release of next year's draft budget, in Lille, France, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026 Students tear down a traffic light next to the Baggio High School, blocked in protest of the government's release of next year's draft budget, in Lille, France, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026TV images showed rubbish containers on fire outside a school in Lille on Tuesday, while newspaper Le Progres reported clashes between police and pupils outside a school in Lyon.Meanwhile, up to 1 in 10 high school entrances were blockaded in Paris, according to French media. A placard reading 'Macron ​explosion' was displayed in front of the entrance of the Arago school in Paris, where students, some with their faces covered, sat and stood on dumpsters ​to block the entrance. A large banner in front of the Helene-Boucher school said 'Fewer cops, More money'.Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu condemned ​protests at high schools on Monday as irresponsible, saying on X: 'Fireworks, fires, violence near high schools: Nothing justifies endangering students, staff, or police officers.'However, he acknowledged that the 'difficulties of ‌high schools ⁠must be heard and addressed'.