Eleven people have been arrested for deadly attack on a far-right student activist at a protest last week in Lyon, France.
Quentin Deranque, 23, died Saturday after he sustained a severe brain injury from the attack. Prosecutor Thierry Dran said Deranque had been “thrown to the ground and beaten by at least six individuals” during the incident.
Dran said late Tuesday that nine suspects were arrested, some of which participated and others who supported them. Hours later, two more were arrested.
Students and activists protested against a conference attended by Rima Hassan, a European Union member of parliament for the far-left party, La France Insoumise.
Deranque, a math major, attended the protests at the Lyon Institute of Political Studies as protection for the Némésis collective, a far-right, anti-immigration party. Némésis members claimed the attackers were far-leftists. Among those arrested for the attack were members of La Jeune Garde, or “The Young Guard.”
Hassan and other members of LFI have spoken out against the attack.
LFI politician Raphaël Arnault confirmed that his parliamentary assistant, Jacques-Elie Favrot, was arrested for his part in the attack and added that Favrot had “ceased all parliamentary work.”
LFI has 70 members of Parliament, and its veteran leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is a contender in next year’s presidential election, the BBC reported.
“We express our consternation, but also our empathy and compassion for [Deranque’s] family and friends. We have said dozens of times that we oppose all forms of violence,” Mélenchon said Sunday.
On Wednesday, the LFI evacuated its national headquarters after a bomb threat.
“The national headquarters of LFI have just been evacuated following a bomb threat,” LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard said on social media. “Police services are on site. All employees and activists are safe.”
