The French hard-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) is under fierce pressure after activists from a closely allied organisation are being accused of the killing of a 23-year-old mathematics student.
Quentin Deranque, described by his family and lawyer as a deeply religious Catholic, tennis player, and philosophy enthusiast engaged in parish activities and charitable work, was attacked on Thursday evening while helping to secure the girls of the right-winged feminist collective Némésis.
The group had organised a protest against a conference held by LFI MEP Rima Hassan at Sciences Po Lyon on February 12.
Némésis — a nationalist-leaning group known for campaigns against mass immigration, intersectional feminism, and what it terms “Islamo-leftism” — staged a small, peaceful demonstration near the venue.
Activists unfurled a banner reading “Islamo-gauchistes hors de nos facs” (“Islamo-leftists out of our universities”).
Due to their stance, the girls of Némésis are often the target of threats and even violence from the hard-left.
In this instance, the demonstration escalated into confrontations with anti-fascist militants.
Video’s of the incident show how a black-clad troop of people, masked and hooded, surround and violently beat up two young men.
They kick and beat them while the victims were on he ground, including in one instance an extreme kick against the head.
Quentin Deranque suffered a large number of violent blows to the head. He was able to walk away, but collapsed a bit later. Transported to the hospital, he was placed in a coma, with a life-threatening prognosis.
He was declared brain dead on Friday evening and passed away.
The Lyon prosecutor’s office announced his death on Saturday. The investigation, initially opened for aggravated violence, was reclassified as “aggravated fatal blows” and “aggravated violence”.
At least six individuals attacked the young man while he was on the ground.
No arrests have been made.
“He had no chance of getting out of it. The blows were delivered while he was lying on the ground. Several kicks to the skull, likely to lead to a fatal outcome and this is what unfortunately happened. But in the end, not surprisingly, in view of the violence and determination of these individuals who lynched him, we must say it as it is. We are facing a crime,” his lawyer said.
The lawyer stressed that the deceased student was neither a security guard nor member of a security service and had no criminal record.
According to the president of collective Némésis, Alice Cordier, Quentin was attacked by anti-fascist activists, some from the Young Guard, a group founded by LFI MP Raphaël Arnault and dissolved in 2025 for violent acts.
One parliamentary assistant of the party was also identified at the scene.
The killing in Lyon has triggered a torrent of political reactions, with government ministers directly blaming the ultra-left, while La France Insoumise (LFI) rejects any responsibility and denounces attempts at what it calls manipulation.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin was unequivocal on RTL: “It was clearly the ultra-left that killed him.”
He accused LFI figures, including MEP Rima Hassan and leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of fuelling “unbridled violence” through their rhetoric, adding: “Words can kill.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reinforced the charge on France 2, stating that “manifestly the ultra-left was at the helm” and highlighting possible links to the now-dissolved anti-fascist group La Jeune Garde, which he said had “strong links” to LFI.
On France Inter, he described the attack as a “manifest lynching”.
President Emmanuel Macron called for calm, restraint and respect, writing on X: “Hatred that kills has no place among us. I call for calm, restraint and respect.”
He condemned the “unprecedented outburst of violence” and stressed that no ideology justifies killing in the Republic.
From the Right, Marine Le Pen of the National Rally condemned the “barbarians responsible for this lynching” and demanded justice with the utmost severity.
Bruno Retailleau, Les Républicains leader and presidential hopeful, declared that “the far left kills”, while government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon accused LFI of bearing “moral responsibility” in a climate of exacerbated violence.
Raphaël Glucksman, leader of Place publique and close to the Socialist Party, stressed that the Left must mark a firm break with LFI.
“It is unthinkable that on the Left, we will continue to cultivate any doubt about a possible electoral alliance with France Insoumise,” he said.
Reconquete leader Eric Zemmour said it wasn’t proof of a societal problem, but that “it reveals only the violence of the far Left since the Revolution and the communists. The State must stop these militias, condemn them and permanently dissolve the Jeune Garde. Let’s stop tolerating these people!”
LFI party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon expressed his “empathy et compassion” for the victim’s family but insisted: “We have nothing to do with this story” and that “all the accounts made in the hours that followed bear no relation to reality”.
The party has condemned violence while accusing opponents of exploiting the tragedy and claimed there have been attacks on around ten LFI offices nationwide following the incident.
Green MP Sandrine Rousseau, have condemned the killing outright but urged caution: “We do not yet know who is responsible,” she said on Franceinfo, rejecting any direct LFI link and describing the party as facing an “incredible cabal”.
Rousseau also said that in current times, antifascist militants were needed and “indispensable“, but that they shouldn’t use violence of “virilist” tactics.
