French Ministers Aghast at Support for Boxer Who Fought Police

Date: 09 January 2019 - 21:12

News ID: ۶۱۸۱۹

PARIS (Reuters) - A former French boxing champion who surrendered to police after he was filmed raining blows on riot officers during a "yellow vest" protest has received tens of thousands of euros in public donations, infuriating government ministers.
A website set up to raise funds for the boxer Christophe Dettinger showed early on Tuesday that it had received pledges of more than 114,000 euros ($130,000) to help him.
Saturday's assault by Dettinger on police blocking a bridge over the river Seine has come to symbolize the increasingly violent nature of the protests against President Emmanuel Macron's government.
Some among the protesters have hailed Dettinger a hero, but senior officials took offense.
Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud called the campaign "incomprehensible". "How can these people tell their children, the young, that violence is the answer?" she told CNews television.
*********A former French boxing champion is seen during clashes with French Gendarmes as part of a demonstration by the "yellow vests" on the passerelle Leopold-Sedar-Senghor bridge in Paris, France, January 5, 2019.