Europe

Macron to Fire Aide Over Attack on Protester

YOU’RE FIRED

Caught on camera wearing police gear and hitting anti-government protester.

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Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron said he will fire a senior aide who was allegedly caught on video attacking an anti-government protester. Alexandre Benalla, an assistant to Macron’s deputy chief of staff, went to the police and was being questioned Friday morning. He could face a number of charges, including violence by a public official and pretending to be a member of the police, The Guardian reports. In the video, Benalla was wearing police gear in an apparent effort to pose as a police officer at a May Day gathering in Paris. At one point, he can be seen “hitting and stamping on” a man. Macron was criticized for his slow reaction to the May 1 incident, and it has become the biggest scandal thus far for the centrist president.

Read it at The Guardian