Raid signals Macron’s biggest test

PARIS — French investigators on Saturday raided the house of one of French President Emmanuel Macron’s former top security aides, who was caught on camera beating a young protester.

Alexandre Benalla’s involvement in the beating and questions about the government’s handling of the affair is turning into Macron’s biggest political crisis since he took office last year.

The presidential Élysée Palace fired bodyguard Benalla a day before police raided his home Saturday morning in the Parisian suburb of Issy-Les-Moulineaux, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Benalla was identified last week by Le Monde newspaper for beating a young protester during May Day protests while wearing a police helmet. He and a second man are facing potential charges and are in police custody until today.

Regular parliamentary work has been paralyzed for two days with questions about why it took more than two months to inform judicial officials and why Benalla stayed in his post during that time.

Questions over whether there was an official coverup of his actions have also been raised, and whether Élysée employees have a measure of impunity not granted to others.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb will face questions from parliament this week to see if the government failed to properly discipline Benalla. Despite his official change to a desk job, Benalla was seen this month on the ground with police at several high-profile events, including the homecoming on Monday of France’s World Cup-winning soccer team.

So far, Macron has not spoken about the events.