PARIS — French authorities have apprehended 11 individuals in connection with the assault of a far-right activist who succumbed to brain injuries, prosecutors revealed on Wednesday. This incident has reignited tensions within France’s political landscape, with the presidential elections of 2027 on the horizon.
The victim, Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old student known for his strong nationalist beliefs, passed away in a hospital on Saturday.
He was attacked two days prior in Lyon during clashes between far-left and far-right groups. The violence ensued on the outskirts of a student gathering where Rima Hassan, a far-left legislator, was slated as the main speaker.
A post-mortem examination confirmed Deranque sustained a fractured skull along with severe brain injuries, as stated by Lyon’s prosecutor, Thierry Dran.
In response, Dran has initiated a police inquiry focused on homicide and other potential criminal activities.
The prosecutor’s office disclosed that a man and a woman were apprehended on Wednesday morning, following the arrest of nine other individuals on Tuesday night.
Hassan, a French-Palestinian who was born in a Syrian refugee camp, is a European Parliament lawmaker for the far-left France Unbowed party. In a post on X after the attack on Deranque but before he died of his injuries, Hassan expressed “horror” over the violence and condemned it.
Deranque’s death triggered a storm of recriminations, mostly targeting France Unbowed.
Its opponents accuse it of fueling violence and tensions with its combative politics.
The party is led by veteran hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a former Trotskyist who stood for the presidency in 2012, 2017 and 2022 and failed to advance to the decisive run-off round.
He is preparing for another expected run next year, when President Emmanuel Macron’s second and last term ends.
Mélenchon insisted Tuesday that France Unbowed bore no blame for the tragedy in Lyon, saying: “We have absolutely nothing to do, either directly or indirectly, with the death of this young Deranque.”
Violence has long been a feature of France’s long history of political upheaval, including during so-called “yellow vest” anti-government protests in 2019 that saw months of rioting and clashes with police during Macron’s first term.
France’s broad political spectrum has long included far-left and far-right factions that harbor intense, sometimes violent disregard for each other, although deaths in clashes between them have been rare in recent decades.
