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Emmanuel Macron (right) is flanked by his bodyguard, Alexandre Benalla (left) in Amiens, France. Benalla was filmed in May beating protesters during union demonstrations.
Thibault Camus / AP
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Thibault Camus / AP
Emmanuel Macron (right) is flanked by his bodyguard, Alexandre Benalla (left) in Amiens, France. Benalla was filmed in May after beating protesters at union protests.
Thibault Camus / AP
France is consumed with a presidential scandal that the media nicknamed "The Bennalla Affair" and "Benallagate". The scandal concerns the former security assistant of French President Emmanuel Macron, Alexandre Benalla, who was identified as beating demonstrators in a video of May Day demonstrations
The video, showing a helmeted man attacking protesters , appeared on Twitter a few hours after the incident. According to France 24. C & # 39; was May 1st. It was only last week – nearly three months later – that the man was identified by the French newspaper Le Monde Benalla, Macron's bodyguard, aged 26 years. .
In the video, Benalla is wearing a police helmet and an armband. He is shown fighting with a protester and grabbing a protester by the neck and hitting him several times.
It is unclear how Benalla got the helmet and the police armband, and why the incident was not reported to prosecutors when the authorities learned the video on May 2, according to France 24. A day later, Benalla suspension of the day, then returned to work.
July 20 Benalla is dismissed, after The World identifies him. He was later charged with assault.
A video emerged last week showing one of the security chiefs of French President Emmanuel Macron beating demonstrators.
YouTube
The incident left a lot of questions about how the bodyguard was approved and engaged. the presidential palace to announce that he was Benalla in the video.
Benalla has a squared past. The London Times reports that he was previously fired for a hit and run incident while he was driving a government minister. He reportedly wanted to buy weapons for the security team from Macron's presidential campaign last year, according to emails posted on the Wikileaks website. He violently pushed back a press photographer and ripped him off earlier this year after coming too close to the president during a speech in Caen.
Questions also remain about the relationship between Benalla and the Macrons. Several media outlets, including the New York Times, have reported special privileges granted to Benalla as a "privileged" member of Macron's inner circle, including "a presidential apartment on Quai Branly in Paris, a chauffeur-driven car and a Special Pass "
Publications such as Le Figaro on the right call this a" serious political crisis "for Macron, a 40-year-old investment banker who was elected president last year. The scandal comes at a time when Macron is trying to reform the French economy.His plans include the removal of more than 100,000 jobs in the public sector and the establishment of links between wage increases and job performance.
Thousands of people were on May Day to protest against Macron's plans. "More than a thousand anarchists – many wearing masks and hoodies irs – launched Molotov cocktails during the May 1st annual rally in Paris, as riot police deployed water cannons and tear gas. Nearly 200 people were arrested.
"France24 reports that the far-left groups, known as the Black Blocks, hijacked a peaceful demonstration to protest the unpopular reforms of President Emmanuel Macron's public sector. material damage to local businesses, "reports the website.
Benalla said by his lawyers that he" lent a hand "to the police during May Day demonstrations, according to AFP.
The controversy is energizing opposition leaders and fueling Macron's criticism that she had a monarchical style of management. "Last year, Eleanor Beardsley of NPR reported: "With his careful appearances and staging of events, critics say … Macron seems to believe that his role is to be the elected monarch of France."
Monday, the minister of Interior of Macron, Gérard Collomb, has comp aru before a parliamentary inquiry committee. Macron's firm, Patrick Strzoda, testified on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, the scandal is already leading to a decline in Macron's popularity rating:
"According to an IPSOS poll on Tuesday, Macron's popularity has fallen to 32%, down four points since June and its lowest since September 2017. "
