The prosecutor’s office in Besançon has opened an investigation after a widely shared video shows a police officer striking a young man on the ground with a baton during the Oct. 17 protest. The case was opened on Oct. 19 and handed to the “cellule déontologie” within the Doubs interdepartmental direction of France’s national police. Prosecutor Cédric Logelin confirmed the matter on Oct. 22, describing the charge as “violence by a person vested with public authority.” In the footage, seen as officers intervene in the city center late on the afternoon of Saturday, Oct. 17, the protest had already turned chaotic, with looting and violence reported in other parts of France. A masked young man with white gloves appears to try to stop a motorbike by raising both arms. An officer then pins him to the ground and hits him with what looks like five baton strikes. Another officer holds back the colleague and releases the young man. The officers then return toward him and ask him to leave. The protester is later helped up by another demonstrator before moving away from the police. The prefecture of Doubs had also announced an administrative investigation. In the meantime, the prefect Rémi Bastille introduced new public order measures, including a ban on gatherings on public roads in the Besançon city center on Saturday, Oct. 24 from 9 p.m. until midnight. Offenders face a fixed fine of 135 euros, and in Besançon and Montbéliard the wearing of protective equipment such as helmets, masks, and protective glasses is prohibited unless there is a legitimate reason. The criminal investigation remains ongoing, with the prosecutors’ office continuing its work through the police ethics unit.