The video, which circulated on social media, was recorded at a Workers' Day protest in May, and this past week the French newspaper Le Monde identified the black-jacketed man as Alexandre Benalla, a security aide of French President Emmanuel Macron.
That identification prompted a series of questions, including what Benalla was doing at the protest to begin with, why he beat the protesters, and whether his superiors knew about it and failed to respond appropriately.
Tomorrow night NZT, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb will have to answer some of them as Parliament plans to grill him over whether the government mishandled the incident.
The incident and its aftermath have grown into a political scandal that took another turn today as French investigators raided Benalla's home in Issy-Les-Moulineaux, a suburb of Paris.
Collomb is facing accusations that he knew about Benalla's behaviour and didn't take appropriate action. The 26-year-old Benalla was suspended for two weeks at the time but has appeared at a number of high-profile events since then. (The BBC reports that he worked as a bodyguard for Macron during his campaign and was later hired by the president's chief of staff.)
Following outcry over the footage, the Elysee dismissed him on Saturday. Benalla was taken into custody with another bodyguard, Vincent Crase, who also reportedly also appears in video footage from the May protest and has previously worked for Macron's political party.
AFP reported that three police officers were also taken into custody to face questioning over whether they provided Benalla with security camera footage that he hoped would prove himself innocent.
Benalla is not a police officer, but was wearing a visor that made him look like one. Le Monde reported that he asked for the day off in early May to "observe" the Workers' Day protest, however, the footage that emerged this week makes it seem like he did a lot more than just observe. Collomb said he "strong condemned" Benalla and Crase's behaviour.
But the incident has led to an awkward silence from Macron as his Government faces questions over whether an Elysee employee was given special treatment to avoid legal trouble.
"If Macron doesn't explain himself, the Benalla affair will become the Macron affair," far-right politician Marine Le Pen tweeted.
