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The Yellow Vest protests in France have entered their third month as the populist movement continues to sweep the country and other parts of the globe. The protests have not been short on violence as police have been seen savagely beating single protesters as well as protesters fighting police. One such incident, however, has garnered international attention after video of a pro boxer attacking police officers went viral.

Christophe Dettinger, known as “The Gypsy From Massy,” was recorded on video over the weekend attacking riot police. In the video, the former professional boxer was seen wailing on an officer, punching through his shield and helmet.

After the video went viral, Dettinger was branded the “French Rocky,” as police issued a warrant for his arrest.

While the video shows Dettinger as the aggressor, the former light heavyweight champion says those officers attacked him first.

“I was tear-gassed, with my friend and my wife, and at a certain point the anger just rose up inside me,” said the 2007 and 2008 champion of France’s light heavyweight division.

⚠⚠⚠ Christophe Dettinger " Le Boxeur " s explique . Posted by Gilet Jaune Pour le Peuple par le Peuple on Monday, January 7, 2019

On Monday, Dettinger turned himself into police and is currently still being held in jail. A fundraiser was started for him on Monday and was highly successful.

As of Tuesday evening, the fundraiser reached $170,000. Many of Dettinger’s supporters claim that he was right to fight back because multiple videos have shown police officers savagely attacking unarmed protesters. In the video below, police are seen dragging a woman down the road—by her hair.

🚩 Est ce la une arrestation Démocratique et Républicaine ? Une femme traînée par les cheveux . Posted by Gilet Jaune Pour le Peuple par le Peuple on Monday, January 7, 2019

While Dettinger may be garnering a bunch of support on social media, the French government is not so happy. Officials have since called for the fundraiser to be banned and the funds to be seized by the state.

“To what level of hate have we sunk to in the public sphere that people fund gratuitous violence against someone charged with upholding public order?” Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa told France Info radio on Tuesday.

« @EPhilippePM a été ferme et calme hier soir, en un mot: solide. Le Premier ministre apporte des réponses claires pour maintenir l’ordre public, les réponses politiques ayant déjà été apportées via les mesures d’urgence et se poursuivent dans le #GrandDebatNational »#LCI pic.twitter.com/W1r5ow8szJ — 🇫🇷 MarleneSchiappa (@MarleneSchiappa) January 8, 2019

“It’s outrageous, this kitty is shameful,” Schiappa said.

As Al Jazeera reports:

The SCSI-CFDT police union said the funds should be used to compensate the two officers targeted by Dettinger, who were removed from duty while recovering from their injuries. Leetchi initially defended its hosting of the fundraising, saying it was simply a “neutral” online platform. But on Tuesday it stopped displaying the amount pledged, before closing the kitty “in light of the amount raised” after more than 8,100 pledges. Leetchi did not reveal how much was raised in total, but said that it would ensure the funds “will be used only to pay for legal costs” and that any money left over would be returned to donors.

While there is certainly no shortage of tensions between the protesters and the police, the Free Thought Project has found that it’s not all hate.

French police officers were seen in multiple videos joining the protesters. They even threatened a protest of their own after they found that the French government was ripping them off as well.

As TFTP reported last month, despite the violence, many of the police officers in France understood the anger coming from the citizens. Instead of clashing with the peaceful protesters, many of the officers were seen joining them in solidarity.

In at least two different cases, police were seen on video removing their helmets to show the people that they were on their side.

BREAKING: WATCH: Paris: A group of French police officers remove their helmets to show solidarity with the French people against President Emmanuel Macron, as anti Macron protests continue throughout France. #GiletsJaunes pic.twitter.com/viNsNmBpvy — BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) December 2, 2018

In both cases the protesters erupted with applause and began singing La Marseillaise, the national anthem of France.

While unprovoked violence is never acceptable under any conditions, perhaps if more police officers would be like the cops in the videos above—and fought for the rights of the people instead of dragging women by their hair through the street—Denttinger may not have been so prone to attacking them.

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