Two young men were sentenced on Thursday, October 1st, in Belfort to suspended prison terms for violent acts against law enforcement during high school student demonstrations. The two defendants, who had no prior criminal records, are part of the 34 youths arrested in Belfort since Tuesday, September 29th. Tried separately in a summary proceeding, they were sentenced by the court to one year of suspended prison with a two-year probation period for one individual, and 140 hours of community service with six months of imprisonment in case of non-compliance for the other. One of the defendants, who wore a white shirt and had a bruise from his arrest, said, "I let myself be carried away." He had to stop his business studies due to an inability to find an internship location, but he wants to continue his studies because "working at McDonald's is not my ultimate dream." Living near Montbéliard in the Doubs department, he said he came to Belfort to support the high school students' demands. He admitted to throwing projectiles at law enforcement and insulting them, but he denied rebelling. "The demonstration escalated, I let myself be carried away," he said, adding that he had written the letters ACAB on his fingers, which stands for "all cops are bastards." This is a term associated with the Black Blocs, according to prosecutor Paul-Edouard Lallois, who condemned "extremely serious acts" committed "on the fringes of a high school movement where young people are demonstrating completely peacefully." His lawyer, Enguerrand Bagot, defended him, stating, "He is not a violent anarchist, but a student who is misdirected, who 'went to the demonstration to express concern for his future' and 'reacted badly,' a 'kid' who 'misbehaved.'" The other defendant, a student in a technical program for maintenance, also admitted to throwing stones at law enforcement and setting a trash can on fire, his face covered by a balaclava that, according to him, was "thrown from a window." "People were handing out stones saying 'throw, throw'... I was influenced, I didn't think, I was stupid," he regretted. His lawyer, Justine Lurati, described "a nice kid" who "misbehaved" but realized the seriousness of the situation during "nights in custody." "It's a bit easy to say that one was carried away," scolded prosecutor Alexandre Vial, pointing out the "surprising profile" of many of the arrested youths with clean criminal records. "Everyone was carried away against their will. It seems we had legions of young people who found themselves, against their will, with balaclavas throwing stones at the police," he mocked.