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.

This weekend in #Paris : Police are beaten down to the ground by individuals on the bridge Léopold-Sédar-Senghor pic.twitter.com/QlknKbdG3w — Carl Zha (@CarlZha) January 5, 2019

READ MORE: Scuffles break out as ‘yellow vests’ return to streets for 1st protest of 2019 (PHOTO, VIDEO)

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.

Monsieur, vous qui avez frappé un collègue à terre, vous êtes identifié. Pour un boxeur, vous ne respectez apparement pas beaucoup de règles. Nous allons vous apprendre celles du code pénal. @EmmanuelMacron@EPhilippePM@CCastaner@NunezLaurent@DGPNEricMorvan@prefpolicepic.twitter.com/zBNcD9kWMs — Commissaires Police Nationale SCPN (@ScpnCommissaire) January 5, 2019

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.

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