French police were criticised for their handling of the events, and notably for confiscating Tibetan flags from demonstrators. The newspaper Libération commented: "The police did so much that only the Chinese were given freedom of expression. The Tibetan flag was forbidden everywhere except on the Trocadéro." Minister of the Interior Michèle Alliot-Marie later stated that the police had not been ordered to do so, and that they had acted on their own initiative. A cameraman for France 2 was struck in the face by a police officer, knocked unconscious, and had to be sent to hospital.