A security guard accompanying female activists from the right-wing feminist group Collectif Némésis has been left brain-dead after violent clashes in Lyon linked to protests surrounding an appearance by La France Insoumise MEP Rima Hassan, according to the group, as prosecutors opened an investigation into aggravated assault.
The Lyon prosecutor’s office confirmed Friday that an investigation had been launched immediately following the events.
“At this stage, the context and circumstances of these events must be determined,” judicial authorities said.
Hassan had been invited to speak on Thursday evening at the Institute of Political Studies during a conference titled “Relations between the European Union and European Governments in the Context of the Middle East Conflict.” Students reportedly greeted the French-Palestinian MEP with a standing ovation inside the venue.
🚨Une de nos militante a été violemment agressée il y a quelques minutes à Lyon par des partisans de Rima Hassan, venus assister à sa conférence.
Notre militante souffre de douleurs à la tête et de nausées suite au choc. Une plainte va être déposée. pic.twitter.com/EsscrJAB2j
— Collectif Némésis (@Coll_Nemesis) February 12, 2026Outside, activists from the Collectif Némésis collective gathered to protest Hassan’s visit. According to security sources cited by ActuLyon, tensions escalated around 6:30 p.m. when another group confronted demonstrators, leading to clashes. Videos shared online show chaotic scenes, including attempts to seize banners and at least one woman being knocked to the ground.
According to Collectif Némésis leader Alice Cordier, members of the group’s security detail were then attacked.
“A member of our security is between life and death after the Lyon action. He was lynched by the Jeune Garde Antifa,” Cordier wrote on social media.
“The anti-fascists knocked him to the ground and beat him, leaving him for dead in the street. Quentin was swept to the ground, his head struck the pavement, and he was then lynched with kicks,” a statement from the organization read.
“His attackers were masked, armed with reinforced gloves and tear gas, leaving little doubt about the premeditated nature of their attack,” it added.
Emergency services were later called to Quai Fulchiron in Lyon’s 5th arrondissement around 7:40 p.m. after reports that two young men in their twenties had been assaulted. One victim was transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
The second victim, aged 23, suddenly suffered severe medical complications. According to security sources, he collapsed while convulsing and required emergency intubation at the scene before being rushed to Édouard-Herriot Hospital.
He is understood to have suffered severe brain injuries consistent with a cerebral hemorrhage. On Friday, his condition was described as critical, and Collectif Némésis later stated he had been declared brain-dead.
Mayor Grégory Doucet condemned what he described as “the extremely violent brawl that took place yesterday,” adding, “Nothing can justify such clashes; I offer my full support to the victim and his family.”
Un jeune homme de 24 ans, a été lynché par un commando antifa alors qu’il assurait la sécurité des filles du @Coll_Nemesis, hier soir à Lyon.
Il est entre la vie et la mort.
Toutes mes pensées et prières vont vers lui et ses proches.
L’impunité judiciaire et la complaisance…
— Marion Maréchal (@MarionMarechal) February 13, 2026Nationalist MEP Marion Maréchal, the niece of National Rally grandee Marine Le Pen, wrote that the young man had been “lynched by an Antifa commando,” blaming what she described as judicial and political complacency toward radical-left violence.
Reconquête leader Éric Zemmour added on X, “A member of the security team for the feminist Collectif Némésis is fighting for his life. He was reportedly beaten by militants from the Jeune Garde, a far-left movement founded by Raphaël Arnault, a close associate of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.”
The violence also comes days after lawmakers of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) published a statement opposing government moves to dissolve the Jeune Garde antifascist organization, arguing such measures threatened freedom of association and expression.
“At a time when racist crimes and offenses are multiplying in France, the priority of the Macronist government is to criminalize antifascist voices, just as it allows the international far right to come to power,” it had claimed.
“Jeune Garde is essential precisely because it helps prevent the creation of an electoral far right, against neo-Nazi groups increasingly violent in France,” it added.
