The partner of the dead victim of last
week's shooting in Paris gave an emotional eulogy on Tuesday.
Xavier Jugelé
and two other police officers were shot by a lone gunman who opened
fire Thursday on the Champs-Élysées
in Paris. Jugelé
lost his life, while the others were wounded. Police killed the
gunman as he tried to flee the area.
Jugelé's
funeral was attended by presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron and
Marine Le Pen. French President Francois Hollande awarded Jugelé
the Chevalier rank of the Legion of Honor, one of the nation's
highest honors. “France has lost one of its bravest sons,”
Hollande said.
Hollande
also led the remembrance ceremony at Paris police headquarters where
Jugelé's partner, Etienne Cardiles, spoke.
Cardiles
said that he was uncertain whether the “extreme pain” he was
feeling would ever end, adding that he was suffering without hate.
“I
returned home that evening without you,” Cardiles said, reliving
the night Jugelé died, “with an extreme and profound pain, that
maybe, one day, will weaken, I don't know. This pain made me feel as
close as ever to your colleagues who are also suffering, as you do
too, silently. As I do, silently.”
“As
for me, I'm suffering without hate.”
“I
don't feel hatred Xavier, because it is not like you. Because it
does not correspond to anything that made your heart beat, nor why
you entered the police force. Because public service, helping others
and protecting everyone was part of your education and your
convictions. And tolerance, dialogue and patience were your
strongest weapons.”
“You
lived like a star, you leave like a star,” he concluded.
Jugelé
was also among the police officers who responded to a 2015 attack on
the Bataclan, where 89 people lost their lives as three gunmen
stormed the concert hall near Paris' gay-friendly Le Marais. ISIS
has claimed responsibility for both attacks.