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French riot police were confronted Wednesday in Paris with "protesters" and protesters wearing a yellow vest
French authorities are investigating the riot police after three alleged incidents of violence against May 1st protesters in Paris.
Videos taken during clashes between police and protesters circulate on social media.
One of them seems to show that an officer inserted a baton into the pants of a demonstrator on the boulevard du Montparnbade.
In another, an officer is seen slapping a protester, while a third shows an officer throwing a pavement.
Inspectors investigate each incident at the request of the Paris police chief, Didier Lallement.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said "there will be a punishment" if officers are found guilty.
He himself faced calls for resignation, after critics told him that he had spread "false news" by accusing the protesters of an "attack" on the Pitié- Salpêtrière in Paris.
What the videos show
The videos were filmed as riot police faced May Day demonstrations involving yellow vests (yellow waistcoats) and far-left "black bloc" militants, as well as traditional protesters.
The journalist David Dufresne, who has brought to light allegations of police violence since the beginning of the yellow vests demonstrations last year, published the images on his Twitter feed.
In a video filmed boulevard du Montparnbade, a protester is surrounded on the ground by the riot police of the CRS and another seems to insert his truncheon in the back of his pants.
In another incident, an officer slapped a man twice while an accompanied woman was pushing him.
Why is the minister under pressure?
When Mr. Castaner on Thursday accused protesters of attacking the hospital, hospital leaders also raised the issue of staff blocking protesters at the door of the unit. Pitié-Salpêtrière intensive care unit.
The large university hospital is located in the 13th arrondissement, in central Paris, near the Place de l'Italie, where police used tear gas to disperse protesters on Wednesday.
The minister said on Thursday that "anti-capitalist" black block militants "were responsible for an" attack "on the hospital, where Princess Diana died in 1997.
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Christophe Castaner said that he should not have described the hospital incident as an "attack"
On Friday, Mr. Castaner acknowledged that he "should not have used the term" attack, but claimed that the protesters entered the hospital and qualified him instead of "violent intrusion".
"I have no problem recognizing that I have misrepresented myself," he told reporters.
Edward Philippe told reporters that he "trusted" in Mr. Castaner, saying that he was "right" to correct his initial statement.
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What has happened to the hospital?
Hospital director Marie-Anne Ruder told French media on Thursday that protesters – some wearing yellow masks and vests – were "violent and threatening" when they entered the theater. 39, pregnant with the hospital.
Videos show protesters rushing through the door, closely followed by police. Some go up the outside stairs towards the intensive care unit in an atmosphere of panic, while nurses shout "it's intensive care".
"It was more like they were fleeing something," said nurse Mikael Matos, who said no protesters wore masks.
"We did not feel attacked or in danger," Gwenaëlle Bellocq told Le Figaro, adding that had their arrival been a surprise, the group had listened to the medical team very quickly.
Police arrested 32 people, all of whom were released as investigations continue.
Traditionally a day of action led by unions in France, the May 1 event was marked by clashes in which demonstrators broke shop windows and threw projectiles at more than 7,000 officers deployed in Paris.
They echoed the weekly demonstrations of the "yellow vest" that swept France since last November, shaking the government of French President Emmanuel Macron.
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