A French police commander is being investigated after video emerged of him apparently punching a “yellow vest“ protester.

The man, named in French media reports as Didier Andrieux, commander of a unit of 400 officers and previously given the country’s Legion d’Honneur award, was filmed punching the demonstrator in the city of Toulon on Saturday.

He can be seen pushing him against the bonnet of a car and lashing out at a second demonstrator who approaches him.

Mr Andrieux told Var-Matin the video should be taken “in context” and said the blows “correspond to the arrest of a man who was rebelling”.

In further footage posted on Twitter, he can be seen throwing several punches at a man who was being held against a wall by other officers. The man was not wearing a yellow vest.

Other officers then intervene and separate the pair.

Mr Andrieux said he punched the second man to force him to drop a shard of broken glass he was holding.

“I then gave him two more blows because I didn’t know if he had dropped the shard,” he told the Var-Matin newspaper.

He described the man as a “chronic offender who has nothing to do with the ‘yellow vests’”.

After the videos were shared widely on social media France‘s Inspection Generale de la Police Nationale (IGPN) said it would investigate.

But Toulon's public prosecutor, Bernard Marchal, said Mr Andrieux had "acted proportionately" given the violence taking place around him, Liberation reported.

Yellow vest protests continue in France Show all 20 1 /20 Yellow vest protests continue in France Yellow vest protests continue in France Protesters wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) stand next to a burning barricade as they demonstrate against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes at the A9 highway toll of Le Boulou, southern France AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Yellow vest protestors hold a banner in front of the Noailles police station in Marseille, on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by GERARD JULIEN / AFP)GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images GERARD JULIEN AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Protestors wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) wave flares, French and Italian flags as they demonstrate on December 22, 2018, in Ventimiglia near the French-Italian border, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images VALERY HACHE AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Protestors wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) demonstrate against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes at the A9 highway toll of Le Boulou, southern France on December 22, 2018. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by RAYMOND ROIG / AFP)RAYMOND ROIG/AFP/Getty Images RAYMOND ROIG AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Protestors wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) face French riot police as they demonstrate against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes at the A9 highway toll of Le Boulou, southern France on December 22, 2018. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by RAYMOND ROIG / AFP)RAYMOND ROIG/AFP/Getty Images RAYMOND ROIG AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Yellow vest protestors go down the Montmartre Hill in Paris, on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are announced in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP)SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/Getty Images SAMEER AL-DOUMY AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Yellow vest protestors walk in the 9th district of Paris, on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP)SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/Getty Images SAMEER AL-DOUMY AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France French activist Jean-Baptiste Redde, aka Voltuan, (C) holds a sign reading "The king Macron gives crumbs to the derelicts" as he takes part in a "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) demonstration against rising costs of living they blame on high taxes at the A9 highway toll of Le Boulou, southern France, on December 22, 2018. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by RAYMOND ROIG / AFP)RAYMOND ROIG/AFP/Getty Images RAYMOND ROIG AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Yellow Vest protestors walk in the streets of Paris, on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP)SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/Getty Images SAMEER AL-DOUMY AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Demonstrators block the highway near the French border with Spain, during a protest in Biriatou, southwestern France, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018. The yellow vest protests, which have brought chaos to Paris over the past few weeks, clearly abated Saturday as the Christmas holiday season began in earnest. Outside Paris, around 200 roundabouts remained occupied across the country. In southern France near the Spanish border, dozens of demonstrators blocked trucks and chanted "Macron, Demission," which translates as "Macron, resign."(AP Photo/Bob Edme) Bob Edme AP Yellow vest protests continue in France Demonstrators block the highway near the French border with Spain, during a protest in Biriatou, southwestern France, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018. The yellow vest protests, which have brought chaos to Paris over the past few weeks, clearly abated Saturday as the Christmas holiday season began in earnest. Outside Paris, around 200 roundabouts remained occupied across the country. In southern France near the Spanish border, dozens of demonstrators blocked trucks and chanted "Macron, Demission," which translates as "Macron, resign."(AP Photo/Bob Edme) Bob Edme AP Yellow vest protests continue in France Protestors wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) wave flares as they demonstrate on December 22, 2018, in Ventimiglia near the French-Italian border, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images VALERY HACHE AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France A Yellow Vest protestor holds a French flag near the Paris Opera, in Paris, on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP)FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images FRANCOIS GUILLOT AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France A Yellow Vest protestor sits on the statue of Jeanne D'Arc, at the Pyramides place in Paris, on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP)SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/Getty Images SAMEER AL-DOUMY AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Yellow Vest protestors stand with banners near the Louvre in Paris, on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP)SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/Getty Images SAMEER AL-DOUMY AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France Protester wearing yellow vest scuffles with a policeman during a demonstration by the "yellow vests" movement in central Paris, France, December 22, 2018. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann CHRISTIAN HARTMANN Reuters Yellow vest protests continue in France A woman dressed as a "Marianne", a national symbol of the French Republic, and yellow vest protestors walk near the Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph) on the Champs Elysees avenue on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are announced in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Zakaria ABDELKAFI / AFP)ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI/AFP/Getty Images ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France A Yellow Vest protestor faces anti-riot policemen in Paris, on December 22, 2018, as demonstrations are planned in several regions of France. - The "Yellow Vests" (Gilets Jaunes) movement in France originally started as a protest about planned fuel hikes but has morphed into a mass protest against President's policies and top-down style of governing. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP)SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/Getty Images SAMEER AL-DOUMY AFP/Getty Yellow vest protests continue in France epa07244739 Protesters gather during a 'Yellow Vest' walk in the streets next to the Opera in Paris, France, 22 December 2018. The so-called 'gilets jaunes' (yellow vests) is a protest movement, which reportedly has no political affiliation, that continues protests across the nation over high fuel prices. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT ETIENNE LAURENT EPA

Activists clashed with police during the eighth weekend of gilet jaunes demonstrations on Saturday.

The movement, which began in November in protest against the government raising fuel tax and the high cost of living, has morphed into criticism of French president Emmanuel Macron and the country’s institutions.

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