The French city of Lyon is reeling following the death of 23-year-old mathematics student Quentin Deranque, who succumbed to injuries sustained during a violent assault from Antifa thugs on Feb. 12. Investigators have reportedly identified five to six participants in the lynching. Several of these suspects were allegedly previously flagged on “S” files, the French term for serious criminals, for their ties to the now-dissolved Antifa movement, Youth Guard (Jeune Garde).
In the wake of the brutal killing, there are already those claiming the attack foreshadows a civil war in France.
“The circumstances of Quentin’s death, as he came to protect the women of Collectif Némésis, are a foreshadowing of the civil war that is looming. The petty, servile foot-soldiers of ‘antifascism’ are the cannon fodder of Islamism, which seeks to overthrow our liberal and egalitarian social order and lock women away. Young Quentin is a hero,” wrote Florence Bergeaud-Blackle, the president of CERI and a doctor of anthropology.
Les conditions de la mort de Quentin venu protéger les femmes de @Coll_Nemesis sont une préfiguration de la guerre civile qui s’annonce. Les petits serviles de « l’antifascisme »
sont la chair à canon de l’islamisme qui veut changer notre ordre social libéral et égalitaire et… pic.twitter.com/JRHLmz4BQZ
— Florence Bergeaud-Blackler 🎓 (@FBBlackler) February 15, 2026The vicious attack against Deranque, a pious Catholic, has shocked France, with even French President Emmanuel Macron commenting on the murder.
“In Lyon, Quentin was the victim of an unprecedented outburst of violence. He lost his life at just 23 years old. To his family and loved ones, I send my thoughts and the support of the Nation. In the Republic, no cause, no ideology will ever justify killing,” wrote Macron. He further called for “calm” and “restraint” following the killing.
The murder took place in Lyon at approximately 6:00 p.m. at the corner of Rue Victor-Lagrange and Rue Camille-Desmoulins. Video footage obtained published on French media sites depicts a harrowing scene where a final assailant, wearing a light-colored cap and khaki jacket, “delivers a final kick to his head” before fleeing.
🇫🇷🔴 JUST IN: Shocking footage of Antifa thugs murdering French nationalist Quentin D. in Lyon has now been released.
Quentin, who was studying mathematics and was described by friends as a pious Catholic, was protecting the French feminist activist group @Coll_Nemesis when a… https://t.co/slFpF1wB0E pic.twitter.com/ETW50KMItQ
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 14, 2026In the lead-up to the attack, Deranque was working security on behalf of the feminist activist organization Collectif Némésis, along with approximately a dozen other individuals. Approximately 40 Antifa activists pursued the group of women, resulting in running battles in which Deranque was cornered and kicked multiple times in the head by a large pack of Antifa operatives.
Despite the severity of his injuries, Deranque briefly regained consciousness. Accompanied by his friend Max, who was also injured, the pair attempted to walk 1.5 kilometers to Quentin’s apartment rather than seeking immediate medical aid. According to accounts given by Max’s relatives, their roughly 1.5 kilometers journey was a long and arduous ordeal as Quentin D.’s condition, likely due to a cerebral hemorrhage, steadily worsened.
The pair eventually reached Quai Fulchiron around 7:30 p.m. — 90 minutes after the attack — where a passerby intervened and insisted on calling emergency services. Deranque was declared brain dead the following day.
The tragedy has ignited a firestorm of political accusations. Collectif Némésis has claimed that active members of the anti-fascist group Jeune Garde, including a parliamentary collaborator of MP Raphaël Arnault, were involved.
À la suite du décès de Quentin à Lyon et au regard de témoignages mentionnant M. Jacques-Elie Favrot, assistant parlementaire du député Raphaël Arnault, j'ai décidé, à titre conservatoire et sans préjudice des suites de l’enquête judiciaire, de suspendre ses droits d'accès à… pic.twitter.com/9j61obEvEr
— Yaël Braun-Pivet (@YaelBRAUNPIVET) February 16, 2026Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly, has suspended one of the potential suspects, Jacques-Elie Favrot, in response.
“Following the death of Quentin in Lyon and in light of testimonies mentioning Mr. Jacques-Elie Favrot, parliamentary assistant to Deputy Raphaël Arnault, I have decided, as a precautionary measure and without prejudice to the outcomes of the judicial investigation, to suspend his access rights to the premises of the National Assembly, in order to prevent disturbances to public order that his presence might provoke,” she wrote on X.
Raphaël Arnault is known as a far-left politician in the party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, La France Insoumise (LFI).
The lawyer for Arnault’s collaborator stated that her client “formally denies being responsible for this tragedy.” Arnault expressed “horror and disgust” over the death, stating on social media his wish that “all light be shed” on the circumstances. A hearing regarding the legality of the Jeune Garde dissolution was scheduled for last Wednesday but was canceled without explanation.
In addition, the far-left extremist group Young Guard released a statement via their lawyer, Aïnoha Pascual, asserting that they “cannot be held responsible” for the events, as the organization had suspended all activities following its June 2025 dissolution.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s LFI is now under fire from critics. Government spokesperson Maud Brégeon denounced the “moral responsibility” of the political party of Mélenchon, which, according to her, encourages “a climate of violence.”
LFI is known for its deep ties with Antifa and extremist left-wing organizations, with some calling for a terror investigation into the party.
Following the murder of Deranque, Collectif Némésis has launched a petition to declare Antifa a terrorist organization.
“The day after an attack of extreme gravity against a young man in his 20s, Quentin, left for dead in the streets of Lyon by far-left anti-fascist groups, the government must take its responsibilities and classify the Antifa movement on the list of terrorist organizations,’ the group wrote. “We have been warning for many years about the dangerousness of these groups and about the extreme violence of which they are capable. Recent facts are unfortunately not isolated: They are part of a climate of intimidation, attacks and repeated pressure which aims to silence all ideological opposition through fear and violence.”
