Quentin D., the identity activist attacked on Thursday in Lyon, is dead; Emmanuel Macron denounces "an unprecedented wave of violence" and calls for "calm"

Very seriously injured on Thursday, the 23-year-old was hospitalized and placed in a coma. The prosecutor's office has opened an investigation for aggravated violence. The perpetrator(s) of the attack have not been identified. (note - 2 suspects have been found)

Quentin D., the 23-year-old identity activist attacked on Thursday evening on the sidelines of a conference by MEP Rima Hassan (La France Insoumise, LFI), at the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Lyon, has died, the prosecutor's office announced on Saturday 14 February.

Quentin D. had been placed in a coma, with a life-threatening prognosis, at the Edouard-Herriot hospital, after being taken care of "in a serious condition" early Thursday evening by the emergency services, in the5th arrondissement of Lyon. He did not survive a concussion, the result of violent blows to the head, a security source told Le Monde.

The prosecutor's office has opened an investigation for aggravated violence. The perpetrator or perpetrators of the attack have not yet been identified. "The investigation is continuing, it is now being conducted on the charge of aggravated fatal blows, in addition to the violence aggravated by three circumstances," the prosecutor's office said in a statement on Saturday.

Emmanuel Macron denounced on X "an unprecedented wave of violence", calling for "calm, restraint and respect". "To his family and loved ones, I send my thoughts and the support of the nation," he said, considering that "no cause, no ideology will ever justify killing." "Prosecuting, bringing to justice and condemning the perpetrators of this ignominy is essential. Hatred that murders has no place in our country," he concluded.

"Quentin's death is a tragedy," reacted Grégory Doucet, the mayor of Lyon, considering that "such a wave of violence in the heart of the city is unacceptable". According to the ecologist elected official, "no political disagreement can justify violence".

His family calls for "calm"

Quentin D.'s family called for "calm", while denouncing a "crime", according to their lawyer. "An ambush, methodically prepared, would seem to have been set for Quentin by organized and trained individuals, in very large numbers and armed, some with their faces masked, having carried out preliminary scouting (...) These facts, if they are confirmed by the investigation (...) constitute a crime," Fabien Rajon wrote in a statement. "Quentin's family trusts the investigators and the justice system to ensure that those responsible for his death are quickly arrested and held accountable," it added.

According to the identity group Nemesis – which claims to be feminist, and continues to wrongly attribute responsibility for sexual violence to immigrants – Quentin D. was part of the security service responsible for helping its activists during their demonstration against a conference by Rima Hassan at the Institute of Political Studies in Lyon, in the7th arrondissement.

The ultra-right group claimed, in several messages on X, that Quentin D. had been attacked by far-left activists. The Nemesis group has appointed members of the Young Guard, an anti-fascist group dissolved in June 2025 and founded by Raphaël Arnault from Lyon, elected MP in 2024 in the Vaucluse under the colors of LFI. The latter expressed "horror and disgust" after the announcement of Quentin's death, and said he hoped that "all the light would be shed".

On Friday, the Lyon prosecutor's office said that "at this stage, the context and circumstances of these facts must be determined". "Numerous hearings" took place all day on Saturday, a source close to the investigation told Agence France-Presse.

This tragedy has triggered many political reactions. The leader of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, called on Saturday for the justice system to condemn "with the greatest rigor" the perpetrators of a "criminal act of unprecedented violence". The day before, the head of the far-right party, Jordan Bardella, had sounded the "mobilisation of the entire political class" by pointing the finger at the Young Guard and calling for its dissolution. The anti-fascist group has in fact already been dissolved in 2025 for "violent acts".

Marion Maréchal once again attacked La France Insoumise, which has been in the crosshairs since Friday: "The militia of Mélenchon and LFI has killed," she wrote on X. The president of the Republicans, Bruno Retailleau, pointed to the responsibility of the "far left", which "kills".

LFI has "condemned with the greatest firmness all physical violence," said its coordinator, Manuel Bompard. Several party offices have been the subject of damage following the political condemnations targeting the "insoumis" and the "far left", notably in "Paris, Rouen, Metz, Castres, Bordeaux, Lille, Montpellier and Toulouse", according to Manuel Bompard. The accusations against LFI are "without any foundation," the "rebellious" leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon wrote on X on Saturday, calling on his troops "to be extremely vigilant." Questioned on franceinfo tv, MP Eric Coquerel repeated that LFI condemned "all political violence" and said that the activists in charge of Rima Hassan's security "were in no way involved in what happened". He pointed to a "Lyon context" marked by the violence of "far-right groups".

Several other left-wing leaders also reacted to the death, including the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, deeming the "level of violence reached" "unacceptable". "In a democracy, no one should die for their ideas (...) It is up to the police and the judicial authority to carry out a diligent investigation and to render justice," he wrote on X. "We must stop with this violence in politics that will always lead to tragedies. Let all light be shed and justice be done," called for the national secretary of the PCF, Fabien Roussel.

Laurent Nuñez on Saturday called on prefects to "strengthen vigilance around political rallies, as well as around campaign offices". In a message posted on X and in a telegram addressed to the prefects, the Minister of the Interior explains that it is a question of "avoiding any disturbance to public order and guaranteeing the safety of people and property."

In Lyon, Jean-Michel Aulas, candidate of the right and center in the municipal elections in March, has put his campaign on hold for Sunday, according to his entourage.

A rally in tribute to Quentin took place on Saturday afternoon in Angers and other calls for rallies have been launched for Sunday in Montpellier and Paris.

In a broader context, Isabelle Sommier, professor of political sociology at the University of Paris-I-Panthéon-Sorbonne, recalls that, between 1986 and 2021, the 53 deaths occurring in a framework of political violence – excluding attacks by Islamists representing 70% of political violence – are due to 90% on the extreme right and 10% on the extreme left.[36,][]37] Thus, if the death of Quentin Deranque is due to political motives, he would be the first victim of the extreme left in France since the attacks of Direct Action in the 1980s, when the extreme right has already caused 7 deaths since 2022 for ideological reasons].37] According to the Swiss historian and politician Stéfanie Prezioso, the main French media do not take into account this imbalance and present the violence of the fascist and anti-fascist groups as equivalent for about forty years, and “[put] on an equal footing the executioners and their victims”[[]38].

https://basta.media/mort-de-quentin-d-a-lyon-l-antifascisme-est-aujourd-hui-instrumentalise https://bonpote.com/90-des-meurtres-a-caractere-ideologique-sont-le-fait-de-lextreme-droite/ https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/politique/article/cette-affirmation-de-marion-marechal-sur-les-violences-de-l-extreme-droite-est-contredite-par-les-chiffres_260519.html