PARIS — Investigators have raided the house of one of French President Emmanuel Macron’s top security aides, who was caught on camera beating a protester in May, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. The presidential Elysee Palace fired Alexandre Benalla a day before police raided his home Saturday morning in the Parisian suburb of Issy-Les-Moulineaux.
Benalla was identified earlier this week by the Le Monde newspaper for beating a young protester during May Day protests while wearing a police helmet. The incident that took place in a popular tourist spot in the fifth district of Paris, according to the BBC.
He and a second man are facing potential charges and are in police custody until Sunday.
Benalla’s involvement in the beating is turning into Macron’s biggest political crisis since taking office last year. An uproar over Benalla’s initial punishment — a two-week suspension and a change in responsibilities — forced top French officials to address the issue this week.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb will face questions from parliament next week to see if there were failures in the government’s handling of the affair.
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