The French presidency has marked the anniversary of the October 17, 1961 massacre by describing the event as a "bloody repression" carried out under the authority of police prefect Maurice Papon. Despite significant pressure from various sectors of French society, including a petition from thirty mayors calling for the official recognition of the event as a "state crime," the administration of Emmanuel Macron has declined to adopt this classification. The official statement highlighted the role of historians and families in keeping the memory of the victims alive. This strategy of attributing actions to specific individuals rather than accepting state responsibility mirrors previous acknowledgments regarding the deaths of Ali Boumendjel and Larbi Ben M'hidi. Although the National Assembly passed a resolution in March 2024 urging official recognition, and despite past symbolic gestures from French leaders, the state continues to avoid labeling the massacre as an official state crime.