Quentin Deranque is remembered by his friends as a devout Catholic convert who worshipped every Sunday at a church in the historic heart of Lyon, where Mass is celebrated according to the old Latin rite, and who regularly spent evenings caring for the homeless.
“He read lots of philosophy and theology, St Thomas Aquinas, St Augustine,” one friend, who gave his name only as Vincent, told a right-wing radio station. “We often had discussions about [God’s] grace.” Such was the strength of Deranque’s faith that two years ago he succeeded in converting his own father, too.
But the data science student also drifted between various groups on the city’s active far-right scene, where holders of traditional Christian beliefs rub shoulders with royalist “counter-revolutionaries”, defenders of “white European civilisation” and outright neo-Nazis. Mocked by his friends for being skinny, he had recently taken up boxing and bodybuilding.
Since last weekend, however, the 23-year-old — now known in France simply as “Quentin” — has become a martyr for the nationalist right after he was beaten to death by left-wing activists in a fracas outside a university meeting being addressed by a leading light of France Unbowed, the party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Deranque’s killing — and the political passions it has provoked — has revealed the bitter struggle between those on the opposite extremes of French politics as local elections loom next month and, more importantly, the presidential contest, just over a year away. Vincent likened his friend’s death to the fatal shooting in Utah last September of Charlie Kirk, the American right-wing activist.
Seven people have been charged over the attack, most of them linked with the Young Guard, a recently banned group that provides security for France Unbowed. Among them is Jacques-Elie Favrot, who until a few days ago was a parliamentary assistant of Raphaël Arnault, one of Mélenchon’s MPs.
Favrot, in his early twenties, has been charged with facilitating or encouraging the violence that led to Deranque’s death from a traumatic brain injury last Saturday. His lawyer said he has admitted being present at the scene but denied dealing the fatal blow.
On Saturday afternoon, about 3,000 people gathered in Jean-Jaurès square, near the city centre, to march the half a mile to the narrow street where Deranque died. The rally took place despite calls by Grégory Doucet, the mayor of Lyon, for it to be banned.
Many wore stickers on their clothes with his face and the slogan: “Quentin: killed by Mélenchon’s militia.” Flanked by riot police, they chanted “Justice for Quentin” and “Mélenchon assassin” and sang the Marseillaise. When they arrived, they set off flares before dispersing.
Marchers in Lyon included Aliette Espieux, below
REUTERS
“I’m sure that Quentin is watching and is proud of us,” said Aliette Espieux, the organiser of the march and a fixture of Lyon’s hard-right scene.
In tributes, friends and fellow activists praised Deranque and denounced the “left-wing anti-fascist mafia”.
France’s third city has long been a bastion of the far right, whose members have been blamed for attacks on immigrants. It is also home to countless rival far left “antifa” groups. Violent clashes between the two have been common, especially on the cobbled streets of Vieux Lyon, the medieval heart of the city and site of the church of Saint-Georges, the neo-baroque church where Deranque worshipped.
This latest clash came on February 12 as Rima Hassan, an MEP for France Unbowed, known for her strident pro-Palestinian views, was holding an event for students at Lyon’s Sciences Po university.
Rima Hassan addressed crowds at a pro-Palestinian rally in Paris in June
AP
Such events are anathema to many on the right who claim they are denied a similar platform. Seven women from one group, Némésis, who call themselves “feminist and identitarian” and accuse immigrants, especially Muslims, of being disproportionately responsible for violence against women, decided to protest on the street outside.
The group’s founder, Alice Cordier, who took part in the protest, told RTL television last week that her members had long been harassed by left-wing activists from groups such as Young Guard, which was set up by Arnault in 2018, but dissolved by the government in June for provoking violence.
For that reason, Cordier said she had invited a group of 15 men to act as informal bodyguards. “We simply want to exercise our democratic rights: the right to demonstrate, the right to opposition and debate,” she said.
Deranque, who was among the 15, made an unlikely bodyguard: 5ft 8in and under ten stone, he was described by those who knew him as more at home in a library than street brawls.
“He was a generous person who gave a lot of his time to others and knew how to listen to the concerns of the most vulnerable,” said Brother Sébastien, founder of Accueil St Martin, a Lyon charity that looks after the poor, and of which Deranque was an active member, as he left Saturday morning Mass in Saint-Georges.
“He was no right-wing thug,” said Fabien Rajon, the Deranque family lawyer. “He had no criminal record, had never been placed in police custody, never been tried for any violent act, and had no prior convictions. He was a studious student … he was not a troublemaker or a provocateur.”
What happened next is disputed. Initial reports suggested a fight broke out between the two rival groups, but Cordier said the violence was initiated by members of Young Guard. “They attacked the boys with us for no reason,” she said. “We had 15 young men to ensure our protection and they found themselves outnumbered against 30 people, mad dogs galvanised by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and wearing knuckle dusters.”
Melenchon said last weekend that, “for [France Unbowed], nonviolence is a fundamental philosophical choice. Violence stunts our movements and brings fear that spreads.”
Video footage shown on French media showed Deranque lying on the pavement surrounded by a group of men who kicked and beat him. A final kick to the head was reportedly delivered by a man in a light-coloured cap and khaki jacket, who then ran off.
Rajon has claimed this version is borne out by the police investigation, which is continuing. “This was not a fight that got out of hand, it was an ambush,” he said. “I have collected elements indicating it was an organised, prepared group that struck suddenly with the intention to kill Quentin and his friends. People who were prepared, trained for confrontation. Individuals who conducted reconnaissance, who used encrypted messages.”
Although left for dead, Deranque regained consciousness, and walked together with a friend, named only as Max, towards his home. They managed only a few hundred yards before Deranque collapsed and Max called an ambulance. Deranque died two days later in hospital. When a priest administered the last rites, he was already unconscious.
Deranque’s funeral is due to take place on Tuesday. “It will be celebrated in the strictest family privacy,” said Father Laurent Spriet, rector of Saint-Georges.
But the political fallout from his killing looks set to continue, with significant consequences for French politics.
In the latest of a series of interventions, President Macron called on Saturday morning for calm. “This is a moment of reflection and respect for our young compatriot who was killed,” he said. “In the Republic, no violence is legitimate.” He also announced that he would meet the government in coming days to “take stock of the violent action groups that are operating and have links with political parties of any kind”.
Mélenchon and his party have been trying — and largely failing — in recent days to contain the damage. Though denouncing the attack on Deranque, Mélenchon claimed he was “not a child but a political activist” who had turned out on the fateful evening “with the deliberate intention of associating his actions with those of a militia”.
The fallout is furthering tensions between France Unbowed, the dominant force on the left, and the Socialists and other more moderate parties with whom it formed an electoral pact in parliamentary elections in summer 2024. According to a poll published by Le Figaro newspaper last week, 76 per cent believe there should be no such alliance in the next elections.
This, in turn, makes it more unlikely that Mélenchon, making his likely fourth attempt at the presidency, will make it through to the second-round runoff — sparing the country from what for many centrist French voters would be the nightmare prospect of a second round between the France Unbowed leader and either Jordan Bardella or Marine Le Pen of the hard-right National Rally.
Their party is the main political beneficiary of the tragedy so far. Bardella, 30, its president, is continuing the policy begun by his mentor, Le Pen, 67, of trying to position the National Rally as a mainstream conservative force. His deft handling of the crisis looks set to strengthen his chances in the battle for the Elysée Palace next year. (Le Pen hopes to be the National Rally’s candidate but faces a legal ban on standing that she is fighting to overturn.)
Denouncing the violence of the far left, Bardella has urged other parties to form a united front against France Unbowed — a mirror image of the “barrage” that other parties, Mélenchon’s included, have long erected against the National Rally. In his most ferocious attack, he accused the France Unbowed leader of having “opened the doors of the National Assembly to suspected murderers”.
At the same time, Bardella has also disassociated his party from the fringe groups with which Deranque appeared to flirt, and sent a letter to party officials and candidates ordering them to stay away from the Lyon march. “We refuse to associate with the far right,” he wrote. Éric Zemmour, a former presidential contender, whose Reconquest party lies further to the right of the National Rally, also declined to attend but said his members were free to do so.
The shockwaves from the killing have also reverberated beyond France’s shores. On Friday, the Trump administration weighed in, denouncing “terrorism” in France. “We will continue to watch this case,” Sarah Rogers, the US State Department undersecretary for public diplomacy, wrote on X. This followed similar comments by Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s conservative prime minister, which brought an angry rebuke from Macron, suggesting she keep out of his country’s affairs.
At the march on Saturday, many who turned out were political sympathisers. Others, such as Fabrice Patel, 50, said he was simply shocked by the death of a young man. “Lyon has lost a son,” he said. “In a case like this there is no right or left. He was a young man killed … This should not happen in 2026.”
Additional reporting by Sophie Farmer