President Emmanuel Macron announced in November 2025 that police officers who intervened during the November 2015 Bataclan terror attacks would receive the Legion of Honor. On Tuesday, April 21, 2026, that promise was fulfilled for members of the assault columns Alpha and Bravo, drawn from the RAID and BRI units, during a ceremony at the Élysée Palace.
Arthur Dénouveaux, president of the victims’ association Life for Paris, was also decorated at the event. He confirmed to Radio France earlier in the week that he would receive the honor on April 21.
However, officers from the BAC 75N, the Paris night anti-crime brigade who entered the Bataclan concert hall while attackers were still active, were not included in the decorations. The Interior Ministry confirmed to franceinfo that their dossiers remain under review and that they “will not be decorated at this time.”
The exclusion has drawn criticism from police unions Alliance Police Nationale and Un1té, which describe the omission as a persistent oversight by the state. They argue that BAC 75N officers, among the first responders inside the venue, deserve equal recognition for their role in rescuing hostages during the siege.
The ceremony marked the tenth anniversary of the November 13, 2015, attacks, which killed 130 people and injured hundreds more at the Bataclan and other locations across Paris.
