French police have arrested nine suspects in connection with the death of 23-year-old right-wing activist and devout Catholic Quentin Deranque.
Quentin Deranque died last Saturday after being attacked by a group of Antifa suspects on the Lyon campus of Sciences Po, where far-left LFI MEP Rima Hassan was holding a conference. Deranque had stepped in to protect feminist activists from Collectif Némésis protesting migrants; the group seeks to shed light on rising violence against women perpetrated by migrants and found themselves being attacked by as many as 40 members of Antifa.
Quentin and his friend were brutally beaten, and Quentin died of severe brain injuries after being kicked multiple times in the head while on the ground.
One of the nine arrested was confirmed to be a parliamentary assistant to Raphaël Arnault, an MP for the far-left party, La France Insoumise (LFI). The MP posted on X: “As stated in a press release from his lawyer, my colleague Jacques-Elie Favrot has ceased all his parliamentary activities. As early as yesterday, before learning of his arrest this evening, we initiated the procedures with the services of the National Assembly to terminate his.”
🇫🇷✝️After Antifa thugs beat 23-year-old Quentin Deranque to death in Lyon, a friend of Quentin describes the premeditated ambush attack against them.
"There must have been around 40 of them, between 30 and 40. Armed with metal knuckle gloves, some had sticks or even used what… pic.twitter.com/zCtyWhKF1B
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 17, 2026“Tonight, a parliamentary assistant to an LFI deputy was arrested. Without prejudging the outcome of the investigation and without infringing on the presumption of innocence, I reiterate that yes, a housecleaning must take place within your ranks. And quickly ,” wrote French President Sébastien Lecornu on X.
Lecornu was responding to a post by LFI head Jean-Luc Mélenchon declaring that his party would be doing no house cleaning in their parliamentary group, “of which we are proud!”
Mélenchon went on to blame the university and authorities for not doing enough to prevent the attack. posting that the majority of violence comes from the far-right. His most recent post, as of this morning, glorified his party and its members for “embracing” its political identity.
Far-left activists in Paris tear down posters paying tribute to 23-year-old Quentin Deranque, who was beaten to death by masked "antifascists" in Lyon last week. pic.twitter.com/TQ0hNUyKww
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 16, 2026
