Paris prosecutors kicked off a preliminary probe after an aide to French President Emmanuel Macron was filmed beating demonstrators during this year’s May Day rally, Le Monde reports.

Announced Thursday morning, the investigation will focus on incidents of “violence by someone charged with a public service mission,” a judicial official said, without naming the aide in question, according to the French daily.

The identity of the man behind one of the worst scandals to rock the Macron presidency, Alexandre Benalla was revealed by the respective newspaper on Wednesday. It pinpointed the politician while scrutinizing social media footage taken by left-wing activists who had turned out to protest the president’s economic reforms at this year’s annual May Day event.

🎬 Vidéo du collaborateur de #Macron frappant un manifestant le 1er mai à Paris. Identifié par @lemondefr il s'agirait d'Alexandre Benalla.#AlexandreBenallaPlus d'infos : https://t.co/EsqRMrih2jpic.twitter.com/hesXye0bzb — Fallait Pas Supprimer 📸 (@FallaitPasSuppr) July 18, 2018

During the incident Benalla, wearing a riot helmet and dark clothing, is first shown dragging a female student protestor away from riot police trying to disperse a crowd in Paris’s Latin Quarter using pepper spray, shields and batons. He then returns to help an undercover officer dragging a fallen male protester, repeatedly hitting him and grabbing him by the neck in an attempt to drag him away from police lines.

Voilà ce qu'il se passe quand on manifeste en 2018. J'ai été gazé pour empêcher de filmer la suite #1erMai#QuartierLatin#ViolencesPolicièrespic.twitter.com/PvtJhX5Ay9 — Nicolas Lescaut (@NicolasLescaut) May 1, 2018

Upon noticing that he was being filmed by activists, Benalla retreats from the action finding sanctuary in a nearby cafe. At no point during the footage did riot police intervene in Benalla’s actions.

After hearing of Benalla’s conduct a number of days later, Macron suspended him without pay from his duties for 15 days, up until May 19. He was then assigned to an administrative role organising the security of events “inside the Palace,” according to the Mail Online. Prior to the incident he had served an assistant to Macron’s chief of staff.

The suspension and minor demoted has been lambasted by critics caused a presidential spokesperson to defend the punishment as the “most serious” ever given at the presidential palace, AP says.

National Assembly member and spokesperson for the leftist heavyweight politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, Alexis Corbiére, condemned the incident as “absolutely scandalous” and demanded “criminal sanctions” be taken against the perpetrator, when speaking to BFM TV as news of the scandal broke on Wednesday.

Ma réaction sur @BFMTV à propos de l'attitude intolérable de #AlexandreBenalla collaborateur du #Macron qui se déguise en policier pour commettre des violences. Je demande des sanctions pénales. https://t.co/2NH34hKPxB — Alexis Corbière (@alexiscorbiere) July 18, 2018

“A man disguised himself as a policeman and beat demonstrators. It's a criminal offense!," he later reiterated on Twitter.

« Il réagir avec la plus grande fermeté car les faits sont graves. Un homme s’est déguisé en policier et a porté des coups sur des manifestants. C’est un délit pénal ! » #LCI#AlexandreBenalla — Alexis Corbière (@alexiscorbiere) July 19, 2018

The scolding hasn’t lasted long, however, with Benalla pictured out and about in footage posted by BFM TV, overseeing the security of the French football team’s bus during their victorious return from the World Cup on the Champs-Elysees on Monday.

Asking why does the “Presidency of the Republic want to smother this affair?,” Corbiére said: “Every citizen must have confidence in the police. No one can impersonate the police!"

« Pourquoi la Présidence de la République a voulu étouffer cette affaire? C’est intolérable. Chaque citoyen doit avoir confiance en la police. Nul ne peut usurper l’identité de la police ! » #LCI#AlexandreBenalla — Alexis Corbière (@alexiscorbiere) July 19, 2018

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