MACRON AIDE COULD FACE CHARGES FOR PROTESTER ATTACK
PARIS The French presidency was in turmoil Thursday after prosecutors launched a probe into footage showing a senior aide to Emmanuel Macron beating up a protester at a May Day march.
The film shows Alexandre Benalla — in charge of Macron’s security during his electoral campaign last year and now assistant to the president’s chief of staff — in a police helmet and armband, but no uniform, joining CRS riot police at a protest on May 1.
The Paris prosecutor yesterday launched a preliminary probe into “violence by a person with a public service mission, usurping a function and usurping signs reserved for public authority.”
The ex-security chief was suspended for two weeks, demoted and threatened with dismissal if he did anything else untoward.