RTMon, 07 Jan 2019 10:39 UTC
© RuptlyFormer boxer Christophe Dettinger clashes with a riot cop on Saturday.
A Frenchman who was captured pummeling a riot police officer during Yellow Vest protests in Paris has been revealed to be a former professional boxer.
Former light heavyweight champion of France, Christophe Dettinger, was filmed repeatedly punching the officer, who was wielding a baton and a shield, as the protest turned violent on on a bridge in central Paris on Saturday. Video footage of the incident went
viral over the weekend, leading to the boxer's identification by police.
Police were forced to retreat as Dettinger vaulted onto the bridge and repeatedly punched the officer despite the cop being fully clad in protective riot armor. Separate footage of a different scuffle shows the same man repeatedly kicking and punching another officer while he lay on the ground.
The French police union revealed on Twitter that, thanks to footage posted on social media, the attacker had been identified.
"Sir, you who punched a colleague on the ground, you have been identified. For a boxer, you do not respect a lot of rules. We will teach you those of the penal code," the tweet read.
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner described the attack as "
cowardly and intolerable,"
announcing via Twitter that the suspect had turned himself in to investigators, adding that he will "
have to answer for his actions in court.''
However, supporters of the Yellow Vest movement have labeled Dettinger a hero who was simply 'beating' officers at their own game.
Comment: The Yellow Vest protests are seeing no signs of letting up. The majority of the French want Macron OUT, and a reasonable standard of living.
UpdateFormer champion Christophe Dettinger has since come out and urged the Yellow Vests to 'continue the fight peacefully'. RT
reports:
The former champion, who has since been detained by police, describes himself as a "normal citizen" who has watched French politicians "gorging themselves" on the backs of average people. "I am French, I am proud to be French, I am not extreme left, I'm not extreme right, I'm a citizen. I love my country, I love my homeland," he says.
"Yes, I reacted badly, but I defended myself," the boxer explains, before becoming visibly upset and calling on French citizens to continue their anti-government protests. "French people, Yellow Vests, I am wholeheartedly with you, we must continue the fight peacefully, please," he says.
Here is his statement on Facebook:
Update 01/10/19The French authorities are now looking to make an example out of Dettinger
as he has been denied bail and will remain detained pending his trial on February 13:
"They leave him in prison! Dictatorship! You will see Saturday!" supporters of Yellow Vest ex-boxer Christopher Dettinger cried out in the courtroom as the decision of his detention was announced. The hearing took place late on Wednesday in the 23rd chamber of the Criminal Court of Paris.
Originally scheduled for immediate judgement on charges of "intentional violence against a person endowed with state power," the court granted Dettinger's request to postpone the trial in order to provide him time to prepare a defense.
However, they also decided that he would remain in jail in the meantime instead of being released under judicial supervision as he and his lawyers had hoped, provoking anger and cries of outrage in the tense courtroom. The court also refused his team's request for additional information or judicial investigation.
Dettinger himself declared that he was "not proud" of his actions, but had reacted to being teargassed and seeing a heavily-armored gendarme striking a young woman.
"I got gassed, I could not find my wife, I saw gendarmes bludgeoning people, a lady who was on the ground, I did not have control," he said as his eyes started to brim with tears, adding that he nonetheless "should not have hit" the officer, and that he is responsible for raising three children.
The lady in question, who was present in the courtroom, told RTL the ex-boxer had "saved her life" from a police officer who was attacking her before having to deal with someone his own size.
In a video posted on social media before his arrest, Dettinger made a similar argument explaining his actions, claiming that his anger had mounted after seeing "pensioners getting gassed." The former lightweight described himself as a "normal citizen" sick of watching French politicians "gorging themselves" at the expense of the people, and encouraged a peaceful fight moving forward.
Dettinger's lawyer stressed that he wore no protective gear to the protest and had "not come to fight,"and his sister told the court he "did not want any notoriety," yet the fight is as undeniable as his status as a symbol for the movement. Before being shut down, a fundraising website had accumulated $130,000 toward his court-costs, with hundreds of donors praising him for having the "courage" of a "champion" and calling him "our national boxer."
See also:
Comment: The Yellow Vest protests are seeing no signs of letting up. The majority of the French want Macron OUT, and a reasonable standard of living.
Update
Former champion Christophe Dettinger has since come out and urged the Yellow Vests to 'continue the fight peacefully'. RT reports: Here is his statement on Facebook:
Update 01/10/19
The French authorities are now looking to make an example out of Dettinger as he has been denied bail and will remain detained pending his trial on February 13: See also: