A top security aide for President Emmanuel Macron, caught on camera beating a protester, has been detained and is being questioned by authorities.
A judicial official said Friday that Alexandre Benalla is being questioned on an array of counts ahead of potential charges. Among the counts is violence committed in a group by a person with a public service mission. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
French media reports, meanwhile, indicate that the process to fire Benalla from his job has begun.
Macron was slammed a day earlier for keeping Benalla on the job, including his use of an office at the presidential palace, two-and-a-half months after the May incident.
Macron's office said the decision to fire Benalla was taken after "new elements" emerged in the case, which has become the most damaging scandal facing the centrist president since his election last year.
A source close to the inquiry said three police officers have also been suspended on suspicion they provided Benalla with surveillance footage of the May 1 demonstration in an attempt to prove his innocence.
"He is suspected of receiving material from the police he was not authorized to have," the Elysee said.
Lawmakers have also launched a commission of inquiry as a second video of the incident emerged, in which Benalla is also seen violently wrestling a young woman to the ground.
Benalla was punished with a two-week suspension without pay in May and later transferred to another post, but the incident was not reported to prosecutors.