A brawl between far right and left youth in Lyon, France resulted in the death of 23-year-old Quentin Deranque, a far right activist, from a brain injury. Seven individuals, including one who was employed as an aide to French National Assembly Deputy Raphaël Arnault, have been charged in the attack. Arnault is a member of the left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI), the leading force on the French left. The incident has heightened political tensions in France, where local elections are scheduled in March. The far right in France, as well as the far right president of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, and the Trump administration have used the incident to go on the attack against the left.
The right is seizing on Deranque’s death to target the left and try to isolate LFI. Jordan Bardella, the leader of the main far right party in France, Rassemblement National (RN), said on a television interview, “The far left has killed,” and called for a “cordon sanitaire” (protective barrier) around LFI. It’s RN that has had a cordon sanitaire around it, most recently in the snap election of 2024, when LFI led a coalition of left and center-left parties to prevent RN from gaining a majority in the national assembly. In next year’s presidential election, RN will try to win the presidency after its candidate Marie Le Pen was blocked by left and center-left parties supporting Macron in the second round in 2022.
LFI leader Jean Luc Mélenchon has acknowledged that there are links between his political party and those who were arrested for the killing of Deranque. However, Mélenchon denied that the violence was in any way directed by LFI. The city of Lyon has a longtime reputation for right-wing politics, including being a hotspot for extreme right-wing groups. It’s reported that Deranque was an activist with neo-fascist organizations, as well as Audace Lyon, an ultra-nationalist far right youth group that openly posts virulently racist material on social media. Organizations of left wing, anti-fascist youth developed in response to the far right presence in Lyon.
Far Right Emboldened
Political violence is on the rise in France, with six deaths prior to Deranque’s death reported since 2022, all of which were attributed to extreme right-wing forces. Extreme right groups have staged a string of actions beginning in late 2022 which include chanting racist slogans in protests, chasing down and terrorizing immigrants in the streets, firebombing a leftwing mayor’s home and car, and physically threatening LFI lawmakers with iron bars at a public event. The extreme right has used Deranque’s death as a rallying cry. A far right march called by an anti-abortion organization took place on Saturday 21 February in Lyon and drew over 3,000 people. Meanwhile, the Lyon offices of the CGT (the main French trade union confederation) faced a bomb threat earlier this week, and an LGBTQ+ centre in Lille was vandalised with fascist symbols.
The international far right is also joining in the attacks on LFI and the left. The Trump administration posted a statement on social media saying “Violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety.” The regime responsible for the executions of two protesters in the streets of Minneapolis, not to mention the deaths of 32 detainees while in ICE custody in 2025 has zero credibility in condemning political violence. Macron’s own government currently faces a scandal over the death of migrant worker El Hacen Diarra at the hands of French police earlier this year. Macron has reacted strongly to the Trump regime’s statement, and the US ambassador to France Charles Kushner is now banned from meeting with French government ministers after he failed to show at an official summons to discuss the statement.
Political Establishment Joins In The Attacks
Macron and his government have been maneuvering to try and marginalize LFI within French politics. In early February, the government classified LFI as “extreme left” rather than “radical left” in an attempt to place it on the same level of extreme right parties like RN. What’s more, the national assembly held a minute’s silence for Deranque on 17 February – a measure never afforded to the victims of far-right political violence in recent years. The killing of Deranque provides another opportunity to further isolate LFI, which the pro-capitalist establishment has jumped on. The revolving door of prime ministers since the 2024 elections, and the failure of Macron’s government to achieve its agenda is further evidence that the center is not holding in French politics.
Unfortunately for working people and the oppressed, the killing of Quentin Deranque provides an opportunity for heightened attacks on the left wing ideas that can push back on an increasingly militaristic and nationalistic French capitalist class and cut across the vile bigotry and division of the far right. Street brawls of a few individuals will never be successful in defeating right wing extremism. Instead, what’s needed is to build mass movements uniting the diverse working class, youth and oppressed people to oppose racism, xenophobia, sexism and LGBTQ-phobia, and fight for a pro-worker program of higher wages, affordable housing, funding for schools, healthcare and more. As socialists we struggle for a transformation of society along socialist lines to end all exploitation and oppression. LFI should call on left wing parties, trade unions, as well as those involved in the explosive ‘bloquons tout’ (block everything) movement last year to come together to discuss how to build such a movement and to resist this right-wing offensive. This could lay the basis for the mass, democratic party of struggle needed to turn the tide.
