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| Macron security official filmed beating protester while wearing police visor | Macron security official filmed beating protester while wearing police visor |
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| France’s public prosecutor has opened a preliminary inquiry after one of Emmanuel Macron’s top security officers was filmed hitting and stamping on a young man at the edge of a Paris demonstration while illegally dressed as a police officer. | France’s public prosecutor has opened a preliminary inquiry after one of Emmanuel Macron’s top security officers was filmed hitting and stamping on a young man at the edge of a Paris demonstration while illegally dressed as a police officer. |
| Prosecutors are investigating possible charges of violence by a public official as well as pretending to be a policeman and illegally using police insignia. | Prosecutors are investigating possible charges of violence by a public official as well as pretending to be a policeman and illegally using police insignia. |
| The video, first published by Le Monde, is potentially damaging for the French president because the security official, Alexandre Benalla, was a senior member of security staff at the Élysée Palace. | The video, first published by Le Monde, is potentially damaging for the French president because the security official, Alexandre Benalla, was a senior member of security staff at the Élysée Palace. |
| Benalla, who previously worked as a bodyguard and has never been employed as a police officer, had asked for permission to use a day off to “observe police operations” on the Labour day bank holiday on 1 May. There are usually May Day street marches led by trade unions in Paris. | Benalla, who previously worked as a bodyguard and has never been employed as a police officer, had asked for permission to use a day off to “observe police operations” on the Labour day bank holiday on 1 May. There are usually May Day street marches led by trade unions in Paris. |
| The video shows Benalla in a Paris square where riot police were teargassing and moving on young people. Benalla, wearing a police visor, is seen first grabbing and dragging a woman, then dragging, hitting and stamping on an unarmed young man who seems to be in pain. The many riot police close by appear to let Benalla carry out the violence. | |
| One witness who saw the incident said: “What I watched was not normal, it was extraordinary, it was not legal and it was not techniques used by the police. It’s unacceptable, I’m extremely angry and I want to see action by the justice system, police and administration against this member of staff of the presidency.” | One witness who saw the incident said: “What I watched was not normal, it was extraordinary, it was not legal and it was not techniques used by the police. It’s unacceptable, I’m extremely angry and I want to see action by the justice system, police and administration against this member of staff of the presidency.” |
| Le Monde reported that after the incident in May, the president’s office suspended Benalla for two weeks and then allowed him to stay in his job, shifting him to more administrative tasks. | Le Monde reported that after the incident in May, the president’s office suspended Benalla for two weeks and then allowed him to stay in his job, shifting him to more administrative tasks. |
| Benalla was a well-known face on Macron’s campaign trail for the presidency in 2017 and would regularly walk close to the candidate as part of his security operation. When Macron won the election, Benalla was transferred to the security staff at the Elysée. | Benalla was a well-known face on Macron’s campaign trail for the presidency in 2017 and would regularly walk close to the candidate as part of his security operation. When Macron won the election, Benalla was transferred to the security staff at the Elysée. |
| The scandal worsened when the French TV channel BFM reported that Benalla was involved with the security operation this week for the French football team’s World Cup victory parade in an open-top bus down the Champs-Élysées. | The scandal worsened when the French TV channel BFM reported that Benalla was involved with the security operation this week for the French football team’s World Cup victory parade in an open-top bus down the Champs-Élysées. |
| It emerged that Benalla had continued to take part in other high-profile presidential security operations, including the burial at the Pantheon this month of Simone Veil, the women’s rights defender and Holocaust survivor. | It emerged that Benalla had continued to take part in other high-profile presidential security operations, including the burial at the Pantheon this month of Simone Veil, the women’s rights defender and Holocaust survivor. |
| A second man, with a bald head and sunglasses propped on his forehead, who is seen violently dragging a young man at the start of the video and raising his hand as if to hit him, was identified by the Elysée spokesman as Vincent Crase. He is a reservist gendarme employed by the president’s party, La République en Marche, who also occasionally worked for the Elysée’s security operation. The president’s spokesman said Crase had “exceeded” his authorisation to observe the police operation on 1 May. He has been suspended and the president’s office has stopped working with him, the spokesman said. | A second man, with a bald head and sunglasses propped on his forehead, who is seen violently dragging a young man at the start of the video and raising his hand as if to hit him, was identified by the Elysée spokesman as Vincent Crase. He is a reservist gendarme employed by the president’s party, La République en Marche, who also occasionally worked for the Elysée’s security operation. The president’s spokesman said Crase had “exceeded” his authorisation to observe the police operation on 1 May. He has been suspended and the president’s office has stopped working with him, the spokesman said. |
| Opposition MPs suggested there had been a cover-up and questioned why the incident had not been referred to the police when it came to light in May. | |
| The Socialist party leader, Olivier Faure, said there was a “a double standard” in how Benalla had been treated compared to any ordinary French citizen. | The Socialist party leader, Olivier Faure, said there was a “a double standard” in how Benalla had been treated compared to any ordinary French citizen. |
| The pro-business Macron had intended to spend this week on visits in France trying to counter his recent dip in approval ratings and shake off the persistent tag that he is a “president of the rich” who is seen as not doing enough to help those in need. | The pro-business Macron had intended to spend this week on visits in France trying to counter his recent dip in approval ratings and shake off the persistent tag that he is a “president of the rich” who is seen as not doing enough to help those in need. |
| The scandal over Benalla is potentially so damaging because it calls into question the workings of the state, and how a security official from the presidential palace was allowed to pose as a police officer, violently abuse a young person and the incident was not reported as a crime at the time. | The scandal over Benalla is potentially so damaging because it calls into question the workings of the state, and how a security official from the presidential palace was allowed to pose as a police officer, violently abuse a young person and the incident was not reported as a crime at the time. |
| On a walkabout in south-west France, Macron was asked if the Benalla scandal called into question the standing of the French Republic. He said the Republic was “unalterable”. | |
| He refused to comment on the investigation and the video saying only: “I’m here with the people.” | He refused to comment on the investigation and the video saying only: “I’m here with the people.” |
| Alexis Corbière, an MP for leftwing party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), said Benalla “deserves to be punished with a prison sentence, at least a suspended sentence and with very heavy sanctions”. | |
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