French authorities have detained two additional individuals in connection with the killing of a far-right student activist. This brings the total number of people in custody to 11, as investigations into the incident in Lyon continue. The activist, Quentin Deranque, aged 23, sustained a fatal brain injury after being assaulted during a demonstration. The protest occurred on the periphery of a conference organized by Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament affiliated with the hard-left party France Unbowed (LFI).
The series of arrests commenced on Wednesday. Among those apprehended was a parliamentary assistant to LFI politician Raphaël Arnault. Arnault stated that his assistant, Jacques-Elie Favrot, had ceased all parliamentary activities, and his contract was consequently terminated. Prior to his detention, Favrot’s legal representative indicated that his client formally denied any culpability in the activist’s demise. The lawyer also noted that Favrot was unable to continue his professional duties due to receiving death threats.
While the radical left party, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has attempted to disassociate itself from Deranque’s death, LFI is facing significant backlash from political opponents across the spectrum. This scrutiny arrives less than a month before France’s crucial municipal elections, an event widely seen as the final gauge of public opinion preceding next year’s presidential contest. The political atmosphere is already charged, with the minority government of Sébastien Lecornu recently navigating two no-confidence votes to pass its annual budget.
Manuel Bompard, the LFI party coordinator, reported on Wednesday that the party’s headquarters in Paris experienced a brief evacuation due to a bomb threat. He further alleged that a substantial portion of the political and media establishments had engaged in days of false and defamatory statements. “I call for an end to this absolutely despicable exploitation of the tragedy that took place last Thursday evening in Lyon, for which France Unbowed bears absolutely no responsibility,” Bompard stated to reporters. “This climate should worry everybody.”
Video footage from the incident depicts three individuals on the ground being attacked by a larger, hooded group. A feminist anti-immigration collective known as Némésis claimed Deranque was present outside the venue to support its members. Némésis has accused the group Young Guard of perpetrating the attack, an accusation that Young Guard denies.
Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon has urged LFI to suspend Arnault from its parliamentary caucus, citing the MP’s connections to Anti-Fascist Young Guard. This group has been implicated in the violence that occurred a short distance from Sciences Po University in Lyon.
A moment of silence was observed in the National Assembly on Tuesday in tribute to the young activist. Numerous politicians used the occasion to criticize the radical-left leader and his colleagues. Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally asserted that Mélenchon bore “moral and political responsibility” for the events. Even Alexis Corbière, a former LFI Member of Parliament, called for the party to conduct a political assessment of the situation.
Sébastien Lecornu commented that, “without undermining the presumption of innocence,” LFI needed to swiftly “clean up” its discourse, ideology, and internal affairs. Mélenchon responded by stating he would not take instructions from Lecornu.
However, more centrist figures within the left, such as former Socialist President François Hollande, have accused LFI of contributing to the degradation of political discourse in France. “It’s clear there can be no alliance in the municipal elections between the Socialists or reformist left-wing parties and LFI in the second round,” Hollande declared on Wednesday. “The relationship is over.” He further commented that for months, the party had fostered an environment of “brutalisation” in debates, effectively eliminating any political middle ground between the far-left and far-right.
The response of law enforcement has also drawn criticism. Local police had reportedly been alerted to Rima Hassan’s event, yet riot police were not present at the site during the fatal assault.