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

French politicians express outrage after public fundraiser for Christophe Dettinger

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 37-year-old, 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.

He added: “I’m demonstrating for all the pensioners, for the future of my children, for single women, for everything we’re fighting for. I am a gilet jaune. I have the anger of the people in me … it’s always the little people who pay.”

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