French Police Officers Investigated for Racist Remarks and Coup Calls in Carcassonne
A preliminary investigation has been launched into French municipal police officers in Carcassonne following the publication of a video recording that captures racist, misogynistic, and conspiratorial remarks made during a night patrol. The footage, recorded on 6 November 2025, was inadvertently captured by an officer’s body camera, which they believed to be switched off, according to the local newspaper Midi Libre. The six-hour recording contains comments described as being of exceptional violence, prompting authorities to take immediate disciplinary action.
The incident came to light after Midi Libre published the video, leading the Carcassonne public prosecutor's office to confirm that an investigation had already been underway since January 2026. The prosecutor stated that the footage had been passed to their office earlier this year. Following the media exposure, the city council initially issued a statement condemning the remarks as unacceptable, blaming the management practices of the previous municipal administration. However, the tone shifted sharply later that day when the newly elected mayor, Christophe Barthès, described the comments as sickening and confirmed that all involved officers had been suspended.
The Carcassonne public prosecutor's office subsequently issued a formal statement confirming the suspension of the municipal police officers involved and the withdrawal of their authorizations. The authority noted that the officers no longer met the standards of integrity required for their duties. The investigation has focused heavily on the patrol leader, identified by the initials C.R., who is responsible for nearly ninety percent of the hateful remarks recorded during the shift.
According to Midi Libre, the patrol leader is a fifty-year-old former paratrooper with close ties to the far-right National Rally party. He reportedly volunteered with the Protection and Security Department, the internal security service of the National Rally, without filing a declaration of additional activity with the city hall. After the videos were circulated internally in late 2025, the officer was placed on sick leave between January and March 2026. He returned to night shifts on 16 March, the day after Christophe Barthès won the mayoral election, at which point no disciplinary action had been taken against him.
The content of the recording includes severe insults directed at passers-by, including racial slurs and comparisons of Black individuals to monkeys. The officers also discussed women in derogatory terms and expressed strong political grievances, criticizing forty years of left-wing governance. The patrol leader voiced concerns about what he termed a civilizational replacement, suggesting that France was transitioning from Christian to Muslim under President Emmanuel Macron. Towards the end of the shift, the team discussed the possibility of a coup d'état, with one officer suggesting that a dictatorship would not do any harm and expressing surprise that it had not already occurred. The patrol leader also admitted to acquiring a weapon for someone close to him.
Legal experts have weighed in on the potential consequences for the officers. Benjamin Cottet-Emard, a lawyer with the Lyon Bar, explained that while such insults might not constitute a criminal offence if not made publicly, they are considered a fifth-class offence punishable by a fine. However, for public officials, non-public racist insults constitute a separate disciplinary offence that can result in permanent dismissal. Cottet-Emard cited precedents where the Council of State ruled that similar remarks justified dismissal, concluding that the repeated and serious nature of the conduct revealed in the Carcassonne case should logically lead to the same sanction.
This report was produced in the Europe Brief News newsroom.
