The death of a young far-right extremist in a fight with anti-fascists casts a shadow over the municipal elections in France

ParisFrench police have arrested eleven people between yesterday and today in connection with the death on Saturday in Lyon of 23-year-old far-right activist Quentin Deranque in a mass brawl between an ultra-right-wing group and an anti-fascist group that took place after a conference by Rima Has, a member of the European Parliament from the radical left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI). Left-wing parties, including La France Insoumise (LFI), have strongly condemned the young extremist's death, while right-wing and far-right parties point to the radical left as responsible for the militant's death. The ongoing investigation has not yet determined which group the young anti-fascists who allegedly kicked Deranque at least six times, causing his death, belong to, but all indications point to them being members of Jeune Garde, an anti-fascist group founded by the MP and dissolved by the French government last year. unsubmissive Raphaël Arnault. In fact, one of those arrested is one of his parliamentary assistants, who has already resigned.

In the images recorded by someone who was at the scene of the fight and published by Le Canard Enchaîné The video shows a group of ultras dressed in black and wearing balaclavas attacking another group of anti-fascists with pepper spray, flares, and even a crutch. In a second video, as the fight breaks up, Quentin Deranque is seen on the ground while some of the youths kick him before leaving. The police did not intervene.

Violence of the ultras

Saturday's fight is not an isolated incident. For years, violent far-right groups and neo-Nazi factions have been attacking anti-fascist groups like Jeune Garde. Raphaël Arnault himself was attacked by neo-Nazis in 2021 at the Gare de Lyon in Paris. Far-right groups operate in various cities, but Lyon, France's third-largest city, is their epicenter. "Lyon is a very particular ecosystem, where the radical far right is deeply entrenched. Since the early 2000s, the city has been the scene of numerous nationalist acts of violence," the newspaper reports. Le MondeThe digital media outlet Rue89 has counted 102 "attacks, assaults, and hate crimes by the radical far right" in Lyon between 2010 and 2025. 70% of these incidents went unpunished by the police or criminal justice system. Just weeks before the municipal elections in France, the death of the young far-right activist has ignited a political war against Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise (France Unbowed). Both the government and right-wing and far-right parties have criticized the radical left-wing party for the tragedy. "France Unbowed has fostered a climate of violence for years. It has proven and acknowledged links to extremely violent far-left groups," said government spokesperson Maud Brégeon on the news channel BFMTV.