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French police promise investigation after video shows Yellow Vest man hit in the eye by tear-gas grenade

FRENCH police have promised an internal investigation after a video went viral showing a yellow vest protester hit in the eye with a tear-gas grenade on Saturday.

Paris police said today they were referring the case to the Inspectorate General of the National Police, which investigates police misconduct.

The video shows the man talking to other demonstrators when the canister hits him in the face and he falls to the ground clutching his eye. Police are supposed to fire the grenades at ground level.

The 41-year-old automobile manufacturing worker from Valenciennes has lost the use of the eye, according to relatives.

French police were accused of extreme savagery when crushing yellow vests protests that shook the nation last autumn and winter, with the Interior Ministry admitting in May that 2,448 protesters had been injured.

It did not record how, but journalist David Dufresne kept a tally that showed 24 had been blinded in an eye and 283 had sustained head injuries.

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