One of French President Emmanuel Macron’s senior aides is at the center of a bizarre scandal in Paris, where he’s accused of donning police riot gear and personally attacking anti-government protesters. Alexandre Benalla, an assistant to Macron’s chief of staff, was filmed targeting a woman and a man during May Day protests against Macron’s employment reforms—he was identified by leading French newspaper Le Monde. In the video, Benalla is seen grabbing a woman by the neck and charging her down the street, then hitting a young male protester in the head and apparently stamping on his stomach. It is not clear if Benalla was attending the protests in any kind of official capacity—he was filmed wearing an official police visor but he was not in uniform. Benalla has been suspended for two weeks without pay and has been moved out of his role of organizing security for the president’s visits. The Paris prosecutor’s office announced Thursday it was opening preliminary investigation into the allegations.
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