The incident took place near a university in Lyon.
PARIS — Three-time hard-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon is facing fire from his political opponents ahead of important municipal elections next month after an activist was beaten to death near a university where a conference featuring one of his most prominent allies was taking place.
The activist, 23-year-old Quentin Deranque, was involved in a fight outside a conference at a university in Lyon, France’s third-largest city, featuring MEP Rima Hassan. Hassan is one of the most high-profile members of France Unbowed, the party Mélenchon leads, and a polarizing figure in France for her position on Israel and Palestinian statehood.
Multiple far-right and ultra-right groups are mourning his death and organizing demonstrations to honor his memory.
Nemesis, a French femonationalist organization, said on X that Deranque was there to help ensure the group’s security as it protested the event. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Monday that members of the Young Guard, a local anti-fascist group with ties to France Unbowed, appear to have been involved in the incident.
The Young Guard was co-founded in Lyon in 2018 by Raphaël Arnault, currently an MP for France Unbowed, to push back against the widespread presence of extreme far-right groups in the city. The Ministry of the Interior ordered the group to be disbanded in June, claiming that “in support of an anti-fascist ideology, ‘the Young Guard’ incites violent acts.” But the Young Guard is challenging that ruling in court with support from France Unbowed and civil liberties watchdogs.
One of Arnault’s aides, Jacques-Elie Favrot, has denied allegations that he was involved in Deranque’s killing but said he would step back from his political role as authorities investigate the incident. National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet said Favrot’s access to parliament was being suspended.
Nuñez refused to confirm the reports of Favrot’s involvement when asked about them during an interview Monday.
Critics have also blamed Mélenchon’s hard-line rhetoric for cultivating a more polarized political landscape, though sometimes without pointing to specific examples. Mélenchon and his supporters counter that he repeatedly calls for a nonviolent “civic revolution” via elections rather than confrontation.
Nuñez said in his interview that “radicalness in speech” can lead to “violence in the streets,” while Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin on Sunday pinned the attack on “political rhetoric, particularly that of France Unbowed and the ultra-left.”
Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said France Unbowed had a “moral responsibility” for fostering a “climate of violence.”
During a meeting Sunday in support of a local candidate in Montpellier, Mélenchon expressed “empathy for the family of young Quentin” and said that “for [France Unbowed], nonviolence is a fundamental philosophical choice. Violence stunts our movements and brings fear that spreads.”
Hassan on Friday said she had been “horrified” to hear of the attack against Deranque.
“Whenever I travel, the only security service I work with and who accompany me is that of France Unbowed, which never resorts to violence and is in no way involved in these clashes,” she added.
French President Emmanuel Macron responded to Deranque’s death by posting on X, “in a republic, no cause, no ideology can ever justify killing,” without targeting a particular group or political party.
In an interview recorded prior to Deranque’s death, Macron said he believed France Unbowed was a “far-left” movement — a label which has been contested by the party and others on the left, as well as some political scientists — and that some of their positions “contradicted the values of the republic.”
Rare voices of support for Mélenchon have included Green MP Sandrine Rousseau, who said that France Unbowed was the victim of a “cabal,” and Michel-Edouard Leclerc, an influential grocery store chain executive who is sometimes discussed as a potential future presidential candidate.
“Jean-Luc Mélenchon is loud-mouthed, but he is not violent,” said Leclerc. “We cannot blame him for the death of this activist.”