*This is a French language learner article. The words in bold are translated into French at the bottom of the article.
The kitty or fund for the French police force on the Leetchi fundraising website hit the €1 million mark on Thursday after receiving 36,000 donations.
On Twitter, the national police account thanked internet users for their generosity, but called for their “daily support” and their “civic spirit” rather than giving money to a fund when they have “no guarantee” how it will be used.
The initiative came from French politician Renaud Muselier from the right wing Les Republicains party as a response to the fundraising campaign launched to support Christophe Dettinger, the former pro-boxer who was caught on video assaulting police officers at Saturday's protests in Paris.
That fund raised €117,000 before it was closed by Leetchi on Tuesday morning.
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Photo: AFP
According to a spokesman for Renaud Muselier, who is the President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, the money will be donated to the National Police association which will distribute the cash between the wounded members of the police force.
“I am pleasantly surprised, it proves that there are many people in this country who do not condone acts of violence,” Muselier told the French press, adding that the average donation was €27.
But the battle of the kitties doesn't end there.
On Wednesday night a third fund was created by one of the controversial leaders of the gilet jaunes Eric Drouet on PayPal to help “yellow vests” who have been injured in the protests.
“Official fund for the wounded 'yellow vests' of France!! All the people who say they support the cause of the gilets jaunes, especially the one who are media-friendly are invited to participate to prove their sincerity!!”, Drouet wrote on Facebook.
At the time of writing (Thursday 5pm) €79,220 had been raised for the injured gilets jaunes.
Drouet was arrested for a second time on January 3rd for organising a central Paris protest without declaring it, causing widespread outrage on the part of supporters of the “yellow vest” movement.
Language learning
Kitty, pool, fund – une cagnotte
Police force – les forces de l'ordre
To hit – atteindre
Donation – un don
money – l'argent
Daily support – soutien quotidien
Civic spirit – esprit civique
Police officer – policier, policière
Protest – une manifestation
To wound – blesser
To raise (money) – récolter
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