Macron to fire security officer who beat protester at rally
French president announced formal dismissal proceedings following increasing public pressure on the Élysée Palace to act
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Your support makes all the difference.Emmanuel Macron is firing the head of his personal security detail following heavy criticism for failing to act after the bodyguard was caught on camera beating a protester.
Alexandre Benalla was initially given just a 15-day suspension for the incident, which occurred when he attended May Day protests on his day off, but Mr Macron’s office did not inform police.
The French president announced formal dismissal proceedings had been triggered on Friday following increasing public pressure on the Élysée to act.
Benalla has now been arrested after footage appeared to show him manhandling a female protester while wearing a riot helmet and police identification tags, and authorities have announced a parliamentary inquiry into why Benalla’s initial punishment was so lenient.
After the 15-day suspension, Benalla was brought back into the president’s immediate entourage. The bodyguard was seen in public just days ago helping organise security for celebrations for the return of France’s football World Cup champions.
The president’s office brushed off accusations that it had responded only because the nearly three-month-old videos had become public. It said the decision had now been taken to fire Benalla because the bodyguard had improperly obtained a document while trying to make his case over the accusations.
“New facts that could constitute a misdemeanour by Alexandre Benalla were brought to the president’s attention,” an official at the presidential palace said. “As a result ... the presidency has decided to start Alexandre Benalla’s dismissal procedure.”
In the footage, which was released on Wednesday by Le Monde newspaper, Benalla can be seen dragging a woman away from a protest and later beating a male demonstrator. On Friday, French media released a second video which showed Benalla also manhandling the woman.
Presidential spokesman Bruno Roger-Petit revealed in a statement that Benalla had been given permission to attend the demonstration as an “observer”.
“Clearly, he went beyond this. He was immediately summoned by the president’s chief of staff and given a 15-day suspension. This came as punishment for unacceptable behaviour,” he added.
But critics have denounced what they see as an attempted cover-up and said the president’s delayed and lenient response to the incident was just another sign that he was out of touch. It follows controversies over government spending on official crockery, a swimming pool at a presidential retreat and cutting remarks by the president about the costs of welfare.
Opposition parties condemned the presidency’s handling of the matter, demanding answers as to why the incident had not been referred promptly to judicial authorities. After hours of debate in the lower house on Thursday, lawmakers agreed to launch a parliamentary inquiry into the case.
“This is an extremely bad phase for the president and I am not sure that reacting late will change the situation,” Jean-Daniel Levy, a political analyst for Harris pollsters told Reuters. “It reinforces the image of a rather authoritarian person who sometimes shows arrogance.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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