The French police arrested two other suspects this Wednesday for the attack that caused the death of far-right activist Quentin Deranque, 23, following the events that occurred last week during a protest in Lyon. With these arrests, the total number of people arrested in the case rises to 11. The crime has exacerbated the climate of political tension a few weeks before the municipal elections.
First modification: 02/18/2026 - 13:58
French authorities on Wednesday arrested two more suspects in the death last week of a far-right activist, a prosecutor said, bringing to 11 the number of people detained for questioning.
Quentin Deranque, 23, died after suffering a serious brain injury when he was attacked by at least six people last week on the sidelines of a far-right protest against the presence of a left-wing politician who was going to speak at a university in the city of Lyon, in the southeast of France.
Read alsoThe violent death of activist Quentin D. strains the electoral campaign in France
The incident has fueled tension between the far-right and radical left in France ahead of municipal elections in March and the 2027 presidential race, in which the far-right National Rally party (RN) is seen as having its best chance yet of winning top office.
The last man arrested, suspected of having a direct link to the violence, and his partner, suspected of helping him evade justice, were taken into custody as part of the investigation for "intentional homicide," said Thierry Dran, Lyon prosecutor.
Six of the other detainees are suspected of having participated in the beating and three of having helped them, said a source following the case, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to that source, among the first four arrested was an assistant to Raphaël Arnault, a deputy for the radical left-wing France Insoumise party.
Political escalation after the death of Deranque: accusations and bomb alert
The anti-immigration collective Némésis, which claims to combat violence against Western women, assured that Quentin Deranque attended the protest at the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Lyon to protect its female members. The demonstration was taking place against a conference by left-wing Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan, from the Insoumise France party.
Némésis blamed the death on La Jeune Garde (Young Guard), an anti-fascist youth group co-founded by Arnault before he was elected deputy.
The Jeune Garde, which was disbanded in June, has denied any link to the "tragic events", while Arnault called the killing horrific.
Right-wing politicians and members of President Emmanuel Macron's government have accused LFI of encouraging violence by so-called "antifa" (anti-fascist militants), accusations the radical left party denies.
LFI reported numerous attacks on its headquarters in the wake of Deranque's death, and police ordered the evacuation of the party headquarters in Paris on Wednesday following a bomb threat.
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"Those who are using the tragic death of a young man to attack (LFI) must stop their despicable maneuvers," wrote deputy Clémence Guetté, vice president of the National Assembly, in X after the bomb alert.
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