Emmanuel Macron presented the Legion of Honor insignia on Tuesday at the Élysée to 59 members of the police who intervened at the Bataclan during the attacks of November 13, 2015. Two representatives of the victims of the attacks were also rewarded.
Published on: 04/21/2026 - 1:19 p.m. Modified on: 04/21/2026 - 4:01 p.m.
“That night, in the absolute darkness, something stronger than fear arose while terror struck: women and men made the choice to act, to save, to protect.” On Tuesday April 21, Emmanuel Macron presented the Legion of Honor to 59 members of the police who intervened at the Bataclan on November 13, 2015.
Welcomed with applause and the music "Shooting Stars" sung in November by survivors and families of victims of November 13, are police officers from the Police Prefecture, the Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI) of the Raid and the Paris Fire Brigade who stormed the Bataclan as well as two presidents of victims' associations, Life for Paris and 13onze15.
Read alsoTen years of November 13: “The Republic held,” says Emmanuel Macron
The president was then joined, to present the following decorations, by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez and Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin as well as political leaders in office at the time of the attacks: former President François Hollande, former Prime Ministers Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve, who was in Beauvau during the attacks, but also the former mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and the former Paris police chief Michel Cadot.
Newly decorated, Brigadier Joe was part of the Raid unit that intervened at the Bataclan that evening. “I was with the rifle, so it was protecting the entire column which was progressing all along the track, at least up to the scene – so getting as close as possible to the crisis,” he told journalists, describing a “nightmare”.
The Legion of Honor represents for him “an immense honor and great pride”. “It’s really nice for us, for the service, the family who encourages us,” he added, moved.
Several police officers from the "BAC de nuit" of Paris, the first to enter the besieged Bataclan that evening and since considering themselves to be "forgotten", are not among those decorated. “They must be fully recognized, as I asked the Minister of the Interior this fall, and I know that they are working on it. I hope that this will be done within the year,” declared Emmanuel Macron.
“We forget no place, no face, no broken history,” he said, also announcing his presence in Nice on July 14, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the attack which killed 86 people there, “to continue to carry this demand for memory and recognition.”
On Friday, November 13, 2015, commandos controlled by the Islamic State (IS) group targeted the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, bar and restaurant terraces, and the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, murdering 130 people and injuring hundreds of others.
Also read November 13: France 24 journalists recount the night of the attacks
(AFP)
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