Tension in France after killing of far-right activist 'by ultra-left'

France's government accused the hard left of being partly responsible for the death of a far-right activist last week, after the killing inflamed political tension ahead of March local elections.

Quentin Deranque, 23, died of his wounds after being attacked Thursday on the sidelines of a far-right protest against a left-wing politician speaking at a university in the southeastern city of Lyon.

Supporters said Deranque had been providing security at a protest against an appearance by Rima Hassan, an MEP for hard-left party France Unbowed (LFI), when he was assaulted by a gang of rival activists.

Deranque was hospitalized after the attack and placed into a coma, but prosecutors on Saturday said he had died of his wounds.

"It was clearly the ultra-left that killed him," said Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, accusing hard-left politicians – including from LFI, the largest left-wing faction in the French parliament – of fuelling "unbridled violence" with their language.

"Words can kill," Darmanin added, accusing Hassan and LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon of "not having a word to say for the family of the young man".

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez echoed the accusation, telling public broadcaster France 2 the "ultra-left" was "clearly at the helm" in the attack.

Speaking after Darmanin's comments, Melenchon voiced his "shock" at the killing, saying "We also send our empathy and compassion to his family and loved ones.”

Melenchon, a three-time presidential candidate widely expected to run again in elections next year, added that his movement opposes violence. He rejected the blame placed on it as lacking "any connection with reality".

'Pitched battle'

Investigators are working on identifying the perpetrators, the Lyon prosecutors' office said Sunday. An investigation has been opened into suspected aggravated manslaughter.

According to a source close to the probe into the Lyon killing, there was "a pitched battle between members of the far left and the far right".

A video broadcast by TF1 television of the alleged attack shows a dozen people hitting three others lying on the ground, two of whom manage to escape.

"I heard shouts, people were hitting each other with iron bars and so forth," a witness to the attack, who gave only the first name Adem, told reporters. "When I came to the scene, I saw individuals covered in blood."

According to the Nemesis collective, which is close to the far right, Deranque was providing security for its protesters and was assaulted by "anti-fascist" activists.

The family's lawyer said in a statement Deranque appeared to have been ambushed by "organized and trained individuals, vastly superior in number and armed, some with their faces masked".

Demonstrations called by the far right in memory of Deranque took place in the southern city of Montpellier and Paris, where protesters unfurled a banner reading "antifa murderers, justice for Quentin". A march in his honor has been scheduled for Saturday in Lyon.

At Saint George's Church in Lyon, which the young man attended, priest Laurent Spriet called on Sunday for prayers "for the peace of Quentin's soul".

"Everything in its own time. Now is for compassion, for respect, for prayer, for letting the police and the justice system do their work," he said.

Ongoing investigation

Although the investigation is still ongoing, the government has already blamed rhetoric from LFI for fueling the violence that led to his death.

The far right has blamed the killing on La Jeune Garde (Young Guard), an anti-fascist youth group offshoot of the LFI lawmaker. The group – which was dissolved in June – denied any links to the "tragic events".

But Raphael Arnault, who founded the group before becoming an LFI lawmaker, expressed his "horror" at the fatal beating – and the group denied involvement in the "tragic events", saying it had "suspended all activities".

One of Arnault's assistants has been banned from parliament after several witnesses mentioned him in the investigation, its speaker Yael Braun-Pivet said on Monday.

LFI lawmaker Eric Coquerel condemned "all political violence" but said the activists responsible for Hassan's security "were in no way involved in what happened". He pointed instead to a particular "context" in Lyon marked by violence from "far-right groups".

Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon accused the LFI Monday of having "encouraged a climate of violence for years".

"There is therefore – in light of the political climate and the climate of violence – a moral responsibility on the part of LFI" for the attack on Thursday, she told television broadcaster BFMTV. 

Raphael Glucksmann, a center-left member of European parliament, also lambasted the hard left party, saying "It's unthinkable that, on the left, we would continue to harbor the slightest doubt about a possible electoral alliance with LFI."

The left, including LFI, allied against the far right after centrist President Emmanuel Macron took a gamble by calling for snap parliamentary election in 2024.

But Macron lost even more of his majority, and the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) became the biggest party in the lower house.

Macron himself has called for "calm" and "restraint" over Deranque's death. 

Pre-election tension

The incident has fueled tension between France's far right and hard left ahead of municipal elections in March and the 2027 presidential race.

While LFI's veteran leader Melenchon is widely expected to launch a fourth presidential candidacy, far-right grandee Marine Le Pen – still hoping to stand in 2027 despite a graft conviction – condemned the "barbarians responsible for this lynching".

Opinion polls put the far right in the lead for the presidency in 2027, when Macron will have to step down after the maximum two consecutive terms in office.

Le Pen has said she will decide whether to run after an appeal court ruling in July, when she could hand over to her lieutenant Jordan Bardella.

A poll of 1,000 people published on Sunday placed Bardella as the preferred candidate in the 2027 vote, ahead of Le Pen in second place.

In joint third place were current Justice Minister Darmanin and the centrist ex-prime minister Edouard Philippe, who announced his presidential candidacy in September 2024.