Former French light-heavyweight boxing champion, Christophe Dettinger, was convicted of assault and given a one-year firm prison sentence for attacking police officers during a “Yellow Vest” protest in Paris.
The incident, which occurred on January 5, 2019, on a footbridge over the River Seine, was widely captured on camera and circulated across social media. Dettinger, 37, a former national champion, was filmed throwing a flurry of punches at one police officer before also kicking another officer who was on the ground.
On Wednesday, February 13, 2019, a Paris court sentenced Dettinger to a one-year firm jail sentence, along with an 18-month suspended sentence. The judge also imposed terms that would allow him to serve his time under “open-prison terms,” which would permit him to continue working during the day.
In addition to the sentence, Dettinger was:
- Banned from visiting Paris for six months.
- Ordered to pay his two victims sums of €2,000 and €3,000 in damages.
Dettinger, who had no previous convictions, turned himself in to police shortly after the attack. Appearing in a packed courtroom, the married father-of-three apologized for his actions, expressing remorse for his “mistake.”
The incident and the subsequent trial became a highly symbolic moment of the “Yellow Vest” movement, which was protesting government policies. While the French government and police condemned the attack as a prime example of the violence plaguing the protests, Dettinger’s case garnered sympathy from some protesters, with an online fundraising effort bringing in more than €117,000 for his legal costs before being shut down. Conversely, a fund for injured police officers received over a million euros in donations.