A 16-year-old boy named Maël was found seated with his feet in a pool of blood. On September 30, 2026, Maël was seriously injured in the eye during student protests in Tours, which were organized to demand better study conditions. According to the prosecutor of Tours, the injury was likely caused by a LBD (Laser Blinding Device) bullet fired by law enforcement during a blockade at his high school. At the same time, a video circulated on social media in which a teenager, identified as Maël, speaks to the camera with a bandage over his right eye. He describes his partial blindness and the ordeal he experienced after being hospitalized. The video's description states, "He had mobilized to be able to study in good conditions with enough teachers! The police blinded him." Another user wrote, "Justice for Maël," in a post on October 5, 2026. These posts suggest that the person speaking on camera is the same teenager injured in Tours. However, the video is not new and has been reused out of context. The video in question actually features a 15-year-old boy named Jalil, who was blinded by a LBD shot during violent protests in Chilly-Mazarin, Essonne, on the night of July 1 to 2, 2025, following the death of a young man named Nahel. This was reported in an article from StreetPress, an independent media outlet. StreetPress was able to meet with Jalil and publish the interview on its YouTube channel on July 31, 2025. The clip that appeared online at the start of the 2026 school year was a reuse of this older interview and does not depict a student injured during the 2026 protests. Student mobilizations have continued, and the toll is rising. According to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 215 students have been injured since the protests began in late September 2026. Several have suffered serious injuries, including fractured jaws, severed hands, and severely injured eyes. Reports indicate that some students were hospitalized in cities like Lens, Argenteuil, and Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône after being struck by potentially incapacitating weapons, such as disengagement grenades and LBD shots. On October 7, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that 18 investigations had been launched by the National Police Inspection General (IGPN) to examine the circumstances of police actions that resulted in disfigurements or permanent disabilities in teenagers. Nuñez stated on France Inter that "in nearly all cases, the police intervention is proportionate." However, the Interior Ministry reported 6,547 arrests since the start of the student movement on September 28, a number that many consider the highest since the social unrest of May 1968. The left-wing opposition and various associations criticize the "repression" and the "lack of restraint" of law enforcement, particularly when dealing with a population that is mostly composed of minors.