A tad over a week ago, a young man named Quentin Duranque, 33, was part of a loosely organized volunteer security contingent for a protest at a university in Lyon, France.
...On Thursday, he joined a volunteer security detail for a feminist far-right group, Némésis, according to its leader, Alice Cordier. The group was protesting outside a conference that focused on the European Union and the war in Gaza. It featured as a guest speaker Rima Hassan, a French far-left lawmaker with Palestinian roots who is a member of France Unbowed.
His friends spoke glowingly of the Catholic convert's devotion, patriotism, and scholarship. These attributes and his political affiliation have earned him 'far-right' status in nearly every press report.
...Quentin Deranque was described by those close to him as a devout, calm and hardworking student, a young man committed to helping the poor, unsuspected of being radical. The far-right groups that have paid tribute to Deranque since the weekend, calling him their "comrade," have also told the story of a young man searching for his identity. Through him, a portrait of the new generation of the far right has emerged: one of integralist Catholicism, drawn to the idea of "self-defense."
According to those close to him, Deranque, a data science student at Lyon-II University, was, above all, a parishioner with a passion for philosophy and ethics and the conviction of a missionary. He was a regular at the Saint-Georges church, a traditionalist congregation in Lyon's medieval district, where Mass is celebrated in Latin. He converted "a few years ago," according to his friend Vincent, who praised "his moral and spiritual virtues" on the far-right Radio Courtoisie station.
"He read a lot of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Augustine," Vincent added, depicting Deranque as a bookworm rather than a "black rat," the nickname given to violent activists of the far-right student group GUD...
I'm assuming the truth about Duranque is somewhere in the middle, as it seems Lyon is known for vicious clashes between radicalized groups on either side and a perpetual state of heightened tensions.
In the street outside that lecture, clashes began between the group of Palestinian and Antifa supporters of the guest speaker, Rima Hassan, and the protest group with which Duranque was associated.
Sometime in the mayhem, the slim young man became separated, was swarmed by a large group, possibly as many as a dozen or more, of the Ulta-Leftists, being brutally beaten and kicked. Duranque tried to stand and left the area, but eventually collapsed, only to die two days later in a Lyon hospital from a fractured skull and brain injuries.
...One of his neighbors, Christine, also witnessed the violence. " I saw a fight over there, with lots of young people... They were hitting each other, hitting each other, hitting each other. And then I saw a young man fall ," she recounts. Maxime also saw the attackers flee. " They shouted 'disperse!' when they saw, I think, that they might have hit him hard. They went off into all the streets. Everyone got out of their cars, some guys on scooters stopped. They put him in the recovery position..." the resident explains. Neighbors then came to the aid of the injured.
Another neighbor, Willem, saw him get up after being beaten: " I went outside, I saw someone with blood on his hands. He looked a bit dazed, he was standing but he refused to go to the hospital, even though they offered to. I just saw the people talking to him, who told him to go to the hospital... In any case, what is certain is that he refused."
It was only more than an hour and a half later, in the Fulchiron district on the banks of the Saône, that Quentin was evacuated in serious condition by firefighters. To get there, he had to walk more than a kilometer and a half, cross two bridges, and traverse the Lyon peninsula. His route between the attack and his arrival at the hospital is unknown.
European papers and the New York Times are doing their best to minimize the bestial barbarism of the attack, because, after all, 'right-wing' fascists ask for it, don't they?
...At some point, violence erupted in the streets outside. Le Canard Enchaîné, the French satirical and investigative paper, posted footage of two groups skirmishing on a street corner in Lyon, where the conference was held. The groups appeared roughly the same in numbers, with both sides spoiling for a fight.
Separate footage of the later attack on Mr. Deranque showed multiple people throwing him to the ground and kicking him repeatedly, as he lay on a sidewalk. Mr. Deranque attempted to walk home after the attack but collapsed and was taken to the hospital, with a severe head injury, the city’s prosecutor said. He died two days later.
They're disgusted that the 'neofascist' right-wing now has their 'martyr, as Jacobin so delightfully puts it. The disdain and revulsion drip in every revolting paragraph of this story, not over the violence, but at the very continued existence of the 'ultra-right.'
A French far-right militant was pronounced dead on Saturday morning at a hospital in Lyon, succumbing to injuries inflicted during a street battle last Thursday with anti-fascist activists. Twenty-three-year-old Quentin Deranque was part of a contingent of local neofascist militants that gathered to oppose a talk by a prominent left-wing MP at a university campus in France’s third-largest city. Their counterprotest quickly escalated into clashes with left-wingers, in the latest episode of political violence in a city that has long been a hotbed for ultraright gangs.
A lawmaker's assistant was one of the first charged in the murder.
...“Lyon has been a recurrent hotspot for far-right/anti-fascist confrontations since the 2010s, partly because far-right groups have tried to build local ‘territorial’ presence – spaces, events, visibility – which have in turn produced sustained counter-mobilisation and cycles of escalation,” he said. “This latest clash fits that longer pattern of localised rivalry where street conflict becomes a form of political signalling.”
Among the more well-known of these anti-fascist groups is La Jeune Garde (“The Young Guard”), which was dissolved by the government last year for its alleged involvement in violent confrontations with far-right groups. The group’s co-founder is Raphaël Arnault – the LFI lawmaker whose former assistant was just charged with complicity in Deranque’s death.
As of yesterday, a total of eleven people have been arrested, including parliamentary aides.
Two more people have been detained by French authorities investigating the killing of a far-right student activist by suspected radical left militants in Lyon, bringing the total in custody to 11.
Quentin Deranque, 23, suffered a fatal brain injury when he was beaten and kicked during a protest last week on the sidelines of a conference held by Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament for hard-left party France Unbowed (LFI).
The wave of arrests began on Wednesday and included two parliamentary aides to LFI politician Raphaël Arnault.
Arnault said one, Jacques-Elie Favrot, had halted his work in parliament and his contract was being terminated. A second has had his rights suspended.
Prosecutors say seven of the 11 suspects are being investigated for murder and the other four for helping others to evade police.
Favrot's lawyer told reporters his client admitted being at the scene and committing violence but said "he wasn't the one who inflicted the blows that caused Mr Deranque's death".
Deranque's vicious killing, besides igniting a war of parliamentary words across parties in power in the French parliament, and, possibly, in the streets, has lit off a verbal crossing of swords between lame duck French President Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
...The prosecutor Thierry Dran told a press conference he had requested murder charges against seven men and recommended they remain in custody to avoid any “disturbance to public order”.
The killing has fuelled political tensions before French municipal elections in March and the 2027 presidential race, in which the far-right National Rally party is expected to have its best chance yet of winning the highest office.
On Wednesday, Meloni said the killing of Deranque was “a wound for all of Europe”.
The twee French president did not appreciate the feisty Italian commenting and told her to 'stay in her lane.'
Meloni said she was 'astonished' at the Frenchmen's pissy prissiness.
...Officials close to the Italian prime minister said Macron’s comments were met “with astonishment” and insisted that Meloni’s statement was meant to “show solidarity with the French people affected by this terrible event and that in no way interfere in France’s internal affairs.”
“Frankly, I’ve been very surprised by this declaration from Macron. I was not expecting it. My reflection is not about France but about the risks of polarization,” Meloni told Sky later in the day.
“I am sorry Macron percieved it as interference. Interference is something else, for instance when a leader is elected by his citizens and a foreign country says we will monitor on the rule of law. That’s interference,” she added, in a reference to when the French government said it would monitor rule of law in Italy days after Meloni’s election win.
And ZING! Meloni hit the little snotty Frenchman once again, who treated her so abominably when she was first elected.
...“I see a climate that I do not like,” she added. “I see it in Italy, I see it in France, I see it in the United States. I also commented on the murder of Charlie Kirk at the time.”
...The Italian PM went on to remind the public that France had granted political asylum “to the cream of the crop of the Red Brigades for several decades”.
GAWD, I love that woman.
For its part, the United States is also taking a keen interest in how the French handle this barbaric act. Besides Xweeting their concern...
...US Under Secretary of State Sarah Rogers emphasized the dangers of allowing left-wing violence to run unchecked as she condemned the killing and noted we'd be watching closely.'
The U.S. government has weighed in on the killing of French conservative student Quentin Deranque by far-left militant activists, warning that “violent radical leftism is on the rise,” and demanding that those responsible be brought to justice.
In a statement posted on X, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism said, “Reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all. Violent radical leftism is on the rise, and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety. We will continue to monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice.”
Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers also addressed the case, warning about the consequences of pandering to political extremism.
She included a little democracy lesson for the freedom-challenged Macron.
..."Democracy rests on a basic bargain: you get to bring any viewpoint to the public square, and nobody gets to kill you for it,” she wrote.
The arrests confirm what has widely been reported: that those suspected of the murder are far-left militants linked to a banned group called La Jeune Garde (Young Guard).
— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) February 17, 2026
The most striking news is that among the nine in custody is Jacques-Elie Favrot, a young man who until now…
Tomorrow, there's a planned march in Quentin Duranque's memory. Things could get very spicy.
His parents won't be there.
Neither will members of Marine LePen's party, for fear of violence directed at them.
Fears over the safety of France’s National Rally party have led the party president, Jordan Bardella, to bar all elected party officials from public tributes to the murdered nationalist Quentin Deranque. https://t.co/pmksRmEqFL
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 20, 2026
The riot police, who had been forewarned and should have been there the night of his murder, say they will be at the event this time.
...The main tribute to the student in Lyon tomorrow is set to go ahead. The Greens Mayor of the city, Grégory Doucet, had indicated he was open to ban the event of taking place but interior minister Laurent Nuñez said he did not want a ban and that “he will mobilise a very large police force”.
“Members of the ultra-left are calling for people to come and disrupt this demonstration. Obviously, we will prevent them,” Nuñez said.
Deranque’s family called for “calm and restraint” and condemned “all forms of political violence”.
They do not intend to attend the march in Lyon and said they “hope that, if people wish to take part in this initiative, they will do so calmly, with restraint and without political expression”, according to their lawyer, Fabien Rajon.
Tomorrow’s march theme is: “Justice for Quentin, killed by antifa”.
The French Ultra-Left might be mad that the 'right-wing' has its 'martyr.'
🇫🇷 Des patriotes, dont les militants identitaires lillois de Nouvelle Droite ainsi que Cocarde lille et Nemesis lille, ont recouvert l'entrée de Lille du visage de Quentin.#QuentinPresent pic.twitter.com/Z8R6x5ZOeE
— Grelet J-Christophe (@JCGRELET) February 20, 2026
Patriots, including the identitarian activists from Lille of Nouvelle Droite as well as Cocarde Lille and Nemesis Lille, have covered the entrance to Lille with the face of Quentin. #QuentinPresent
But it always irritates me how they ignore the fact that 'right-wing' martyrs...
Lotherbund x Ingouvernables x Vosegus Épinal for Quentin! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/mY0sS0FKjH
— 🇫🇷 Le K-NG 🇫🇷 ✠ ⚜️ (@Lletak75) February 20, 2026
...don't make themselves.
Murderous Leftists make them every time.
Beege ADDS: From the video coming in, it's hot already. They're not waiting for tomorrow.
🚨BREAKING: Hundreds of nationalists are outside an Antifa bar tonight chanting revenge for Quentin
— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) February 20, 2026
France is about to erupt! 🇫🇷pic.twitter.com/UBiE4TX2xn
And it's not going to be confined to Lyon.
🚨BREAKING: Hundreds of nationalists gather in Rouen, Normandy, demanding justice for Quentin
— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) February 19, 2026
Nationalists up and down France are FURIOUS with his assassination. 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/sqkNOVK6ai
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