€114,000 raised for boxer who punched police at gilets jaunes protest

French politicians express outrage after public fundraiser for Christophe Dettinger

Angelique Chrisafisin Paris
Tue 8 Jan 2019 16.26 GMT

A former French boxing champion who was filmed punching police officers during a gilets jaunes protest has received more than €100,000 in public donations online, angering the government.

The online fundraising platform Leetchi received €114,000 for Christophe Dettinger before the site closed the donation page after politicians expressed outrage on Tuesday. Leetchi said the funds were intended only for legal fees.

Dettinger handed himself in to police after clashing with officers on a bridge in Paris during an anti-government protest on Saturday. The incident was cited by the government as a sign of the violent turn demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron have taken.

The 37-year-old, a French light-heavyweight champion in 2007 and 2008 who retired from the sport in 2013, said in a video that he had “boiled over” after being teargassed with his wife on his eighth Saturday protest. “I reacted badly. Yes, I reacted badly,” he said, adding he had seen the “repression” of the police towards protesters.

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