Protesters gather near Place Jean Jaures in Lyon, France, on Saturday during a march in tribute to 23-year-old student Quentin Debranque, who died after he was attacked during a far-right protest against a left-wing politician speaking at a university in Lyon on February 12. Photo by EPA/Firas Abdulah
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for peace as several rallies are scheduled across the country in the wake of the recent beating death of activist Quentin Deranque.
A protest drew 3,000 people to the site in Lyon where Deranque, 23, was severely beaten and later died, and local authorities have increased security to prevent violence.
French authorities have arrested 11, charging two with murder and five others with related crimes in the beating death of Deranque during a brawl that erupted at a protest in Lyon on Feb. 12.
One of those charged in Deranque’s death is Jacques-Elie Favrot, who formerly worked as a parliamentary assistant for La France Insoumise, or France Unbowed, which has been described as a “hard-left party.”
The political party holds 70 seats in the French National Assembly, which has a total of 577 seats.
All of those charged have denied trying to kill Deranque, whom news outlets described as a “far-right activist” who was at the Feb. 12 university protest to protect what the BBC described as “far-right feminists.”
Some of those charged have admitted to striking Deranque, while Favrot was charged with complicity to commit murder by instigation and is not accused of striking the victim.
Those attending the Feb. 12 protest included nationalist and neo-fascist groups, along with Catholics and traditionalists, the BBC reported.
Video footage of Deranque’s beating shows a group of masked and hooded people attacking him at the protest. Deranque was hospitalized with severe head injuries and died two days later.
Those charged in his death either were members or otherwise affiliated with a militant organization called Le Jeune Guarde aka The Young Guard, which was formed in 2018 to provide security for LFI and was banned by French authorities in 2025.
Deranque’s beating death has raised the matter of far-left militancy in France, where far-right activists and nationalists generally had been viewed as pariahs by the French politicians.
Many of those were affiliated with the far-right extremist group National Front, which has been replaced by the National Rally.
Since Deranque’s beating death, French National Assembly Deputy Marine Le Pen and others are suggesting that the attack affirms the dangers posed by far-left extremists versus those posed by the far-right.
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