Xavier Jugelé, the 37-year-old Paris police officer who was killed in yesterday's ISIS attack on the Champ-Elysees, was gay and fought for LGBT rights, the New York Times reports:
Officer Jugelé was mourned on Friday by friends and fellow officers.
“He was a simple man who loved his job, and he was really committed to the L.G.B.T. cause,” said Mikaël Bucheron, president of Flag, a French association for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender police officers. “He joined the association a few years ago, and he protested with us when there was the homosexual propaganda ban at the Sochi Olympic Games,” Mr. Bucheron said.
The son of a former member of the armed forces, Officer Jugelé was born in 1979 in Bourges and grew up in Romorantin-Lanthenay in central France. He was in a civil union. He and his partner did not have children.
Pour ne jamais oublier Xavier.
RIP pic.twitter.com/HWzvWN0R90— FLAG! (@flagasso) April 21, 2017
Mr Jugelé, who was shot in the head, was sent to guard the Bataclan immediately after the attack.
He was gay and was in a civil partnership.
An active member of the Flag! association that represents Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender police officers, he served in Paris throughout his career. He belonged to the 32nd Intervention Company that maintains order in the French capital.
Mickaël Bucheron, a fellow-officer who heads the association, said: “When I learned that it was one of us [who had been killed], it was shocking. Every time a police officer dies in the line of duty, all of us are very moved and affected by the tragedy. But the emotion is even stronger when you knew him and he was a member of the association.”
Two other officers and a bystander were wounded in the attack.