After far-left militants beat conservative Catholic Quentin Deranque to death in Lyon, one of their members, Jacques-Élie Favrot, has been indicted for intentional murder, serious violence, and criminal association. His role and others in the far-left party La France Insoumise is leading to calls for a political “firewall,” usually reserved for the right, to be applied to the left in France.
Favrot is now in pre-trial detention for the barbaric murder of the 23-year-old victim, who was protecting the feminist activist group Collectif Némésis during a demonstration.
Favrot is a parliamentary assistant to far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) deputy Raphaël Arnault, who was the founder and leader of the extremist leftist militia Young Guard, which was dissolved by the French state.
🇫🇷🔴 After Antifa beat Quentin Deranque to death in Lyon, far-left activist Jacques-Élie Favrot has been indicted for murder through incitement, serious violence, and criminal association.
He is now in pre-trial detention for the barbaric murder of the 23-year-old conservative… pic.twitter.com/FQ9MZZGmNA
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 20, 2026Favrot’s lawyer confirmed that his client admitted to being present at the scene and participating in the violence against Deranque and other individuals.
However, Favrot denies delivering the fatal blows that killed Deranque. The Lyon prosecutor stated that Favrot played a “leadership role” in the sequence of violence.
So far, seven people have been charged, including another employee of the far-left LFI, named as Adrien B. Many of these suspects have been indicted with intentional homicide.
Three of the suspects have links to the ultra-left movement and two have criminal records, according to France Info.
“Two of them refused to explain the facts, in particular. The others acknowledged their presence at the scene, and some admitted to having dealt blows to Quentin Deranque or other victims. On the other hand, they all contested homicidal intent,” according to Thierry Dran, public prosecutor of Lyon. “It is in particular thanks to the in-depth study of the numerous videos that investigators were able to put a name to the seven suspects. Identifying those present at the scene was difficult. And to this day, there are still several people to identify.”
Political earthquake and potential firewall
The role of the far-left LFI in the murder is being described as a “political earthquake” in France.
“The far left has killed,” said Jordan Bardella, the leader of the National Rally.
He accused LFI founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his movement of serving as an “ideological incubator for violent movements” that “install a climate of tension and disorder on the streets as in the National Assembly.”
The National Rally leader now calls for politicians to end the firewall usually reserved for the right and now apply it to the left.
“I therefore call for the formation of a genuine cordon sanitaire to isolate La France Insoumise and keep it away from the institutions, whether in the National Assembly, where these MPs sit on numerous bodies, or with a view to the next local elections,” said Bardella.
Mélenchon, however, has only reacted with outrage, deflecting blame for the murder and placing it on the peaceful activists of Collectif Némésis.
“The Collectif Némésis group must be banned because it is dangerous, it attacks our meetings, it attacks our leaders, it threatens us with death.” According to Mélenchon, the group is the real “threat,” not Antifa, even though the Collectif Némésis members and its security team have been targeted with literal death on the streets of France.
His claims come as pressure grows to investigate his party for supporting shielding left-wing terrorists, including the members just arrested in connection with the murder of Deranque.
🇫🇷After Antifa brutally beat conservative activist Quentin Deranque to death in Lyon, far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon incredibly calls to ban the feminist group Collectif Némésis – the same group Deranque was providing security for when he lost his life.
"The Collectif… pic.twitter.com/S4qwW9t7Cc
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 18, 2026Bardella is not the only one calling for a firewall against the LFI. Others on the left appear to be equally revolted by LFI.
Raphaël Glucksmann, MEP for the eco-party Place publique, said that an alliance with LFI is impossible. “It is unthinkable, I tell you, unthinkable, that we on the left continue to have the slightest doubt about a possible electoral alliance with La France Insoumise,” he said.
These political developments come just before local elections and national elections next year.
The case has also sparked international outrage, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemning the murder of Deranque. The United States has also commented on the murder.
“Democracy rests on a basic bargain: you get to bring any viewpoint to the public square, and nobody gets to kill you for it. This is why we treat political violence — terrorism — so harshly. Once you decide to kill people for their opinions instead of persuade them, you’ve opted out of civilization,” wrote Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers.
Democracy rests on a basic bargain: you get to bring any viewpoint to the public square, and nobody gets to kill you for it.
This is why we treat political violence — terrorism — so harshly. Once you decide to kill people for their opinions instead of persuade them, you’ve… https://t.co/Ue6XWFWAFC
— Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers (@UnderSecPD) February 20, 2026
