Nine people have been arrested in connection with the death of Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old nationalist activist who died Saturday in Lyon after being violently assaulted two days prior. The arrests, carried out Tuesday, include seven men and two women, with one of the men identified as an aide to a member of the La France Insoumise (LFI) party, according to authorities.
Deranque was attacked on Thursday during clashes that erupted in the vicinity of a conference given by Rima Hassan, an LFI member of the European Parliament, at Sciences Po Lyon. He succumbed to his injuries two days later. The incident has sparked a national debate and led to a minute of silence being observed in the French National Assembly on Tuesday.
Fresh video evidence obtained by Le Progrès appears to show two groups of roughly fifteen individuals confronting each other shortly before the fatal assault. The footage depicts physical altercations, with participants exchanging blows. Even as some have characterized the event as a “brawl,” others, including Alice Cordier, the president of the nationalist-feminist group Nemesis, have claimed it was an attack initiated by the far-left. Cordier, whose members were present at the conference, stated that “the extreme left tries to make believe there was a brawl.”
According to the Agence France-Presse, the far-right group involved in the initial confrontation reportedly retreated, leaving some of their members, potentially including Deranque, vulnerable to further attack. Le Progrès reported that the group was equipped with protective gear, including knuckle dusters, motorcycle helmets, and tear gas.
The arrests were made across several regions of France, including the Lyon area, Haute-Loire, the Drôme, and the Aisne. A judicial source confirmed the arrests were made in connection with a charge of “voluntary homicide” but declined to provide further details about the suspects’ profiles. Jacques-Elie Favrot, the parliamentary assistant to LFI deputy Raphaël Arnault, is among those detained, according to reports.
The death of Quentin Deranque has prompted strong reactions across the political spectrum. Sébastien Lecornu, the Prime Minister, and members of LFI engaged in heated exchanges in the National Assembly following the minute of silence. LFI has refuted accusations of responsibility for Deranque’s death and denounced what it describes as an attempt to exploit the tragedy for political gain. François Hollande, former President of France, has stated there is a “double responsibility” of La France Insoumise in the death of Quentin Deranque.
Two additional individuals were arrested Wednesday morning in Saint-Priest, near Lyon, bringing the total number of those in custody to eleven, according to Le Parisien.
