Quentin Deranque Case in Lyon: Seven Arrested, LFI Under Pressure, Macron and Merz Respond to Trump Tariffs
A homicide investigation in Lyon, mounting political pressure on La France Insoumise, and a growing EU pushback after Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
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This week
🚓Seven arrested for Quentin Deranque murder
💬La France Insoumise losing ground in the Quentin D. case
🇪🇺Macron and Merz call for joint response to Trump tariffs
🚓Seven arrested for Quentin Deranque murder
Picking up on the story from last week: this Thursday 19 February, the Lyon courts launched investigations into seven young people in relation to the death of Quentin Deranque, with six under investigation for “voluntary homicide”.
The final individual, the Parliamentary Assistant for LFI deputy Raphaël Arnault, Jacques-Elie Favrot, is now under investigation for “voluntary complicity in homicide by instigation”.
These investigations have been launched following an intense week-long investigation across the region, which led to five of the individuals admitting that they were present at the scene of the murder, and some even admitting to striking the far-right activist, but denying any intent to kill him.
Which, as you can imagine, isn’t much of a defence.
Based on what we have learned in the last week, and what we know so far, we can piece together a rough timeline of events that day:
For several years there have been regular skirmishes between far-left and far-right activists, with the recent flashpoints merely being the most recent
On Thursday 12 February, the far-right grouping Nemesis Collective was holding a protest of MEP Rima Hassan’s event at Sciences Po, where Quentin was asked to provide security
Earlier that day, a group of masked far-right activists arrived armed on the scene and attacked a group of ANTIFA members, throwing smoke at them before engaging in a melee, where the far-right activists used reinforced gloves, motorcycle helmets, crutches and a gas canister
There was then some form of break in the conflict, before a flashpoint triggered another engagement that led to the death of Quentin Deranque
Now, there are several uncertain points right now, such as whether Quentin Deranque had arrived with the masked far-right group, how integrated he was into these groupings, and whether the claims by the far-right that he was just an unattached, innocent bystander who was the victim of out-of-control far-left violence are credible.
What we do know, however, is that Quentin Deranque was:
A member of the neo-fascist group Allobroges Bourgoin in Isère
A member of the neo-fascist Lyon Populaire, which was dissolved by ministerial decree
A Catholic convert
A member of the Catholic identitarian organisation Academia Christiana
Took part in the neo-fascist Comité du 9-Mai meeting in Paris
However, we’ll undoubtedly learn more about this tragic event and everyone involved in the coming weeks.
What we do know, of course, is that Lyon is a stronghold for far-right groups in France, and we may even do a deep dive into this should you lovely people be interested.
Comment below if you are.
💬La France Insoumise losing ground in the Quentin D. case
So, with the direct connection between a deputy and the Quentin Deranque case, and their well-known reputation for aggressive and often violent rhetoric, La France Insoumise aren’t having the best time.
With their argument that they’re really just a standard left-wing party, the events of last week appear to have solidified the already prominent view that LFI are a far-left grouping, leaving them in the same extreme of the political wings as the far-right Rassemblement National.
According to this latest poll by ELABE, 67% of French people believe that La France Insoumise is a far-left party, meaning that there are now more people who believe that LFI are an extreme party than those who believe the Rassemblement National are an extreme party (62%).
The same poll also shows that 70% of French people surveyed directly blame the ongoing tensions in the political debate for the physical violence that we’ve seen in Lyon these past years.
This is very important as it is a direct repudiation of the political strategy that La France Insoumise has engaged in since their rise to prominence in 2017 of maximal contestation, disruption, and often, violent imagery and discourse.
It also supports and justifies the political strategy selected by the Rassemblement National in the last decade or so, where they have chosen to keep a lower profile, engage in less conflictual discourse, and on occasion, actively distance themselves from those who would endanger the “dédiabolisation” of the far-right party.
It’s also given the far-right a huge opportunity to demonise their opponents,.
“All French people were deeply shocked by the death of young Quentin, who died defending his beliefs.
Political violence, particularly that promoted by the far left, must be combated with the utmost firmness.”
And naturally, they are given the leeway to make comments that they wouldn’t when those on their side of far-right politics engage in similar criminal activity, such as when young individuals have been attacked or, unfortunately, killed by far-right militants.
🇪🇺Macron and Merz call for joint response to Trump tariffs
So, Donald Trump’s tariffs have been deemed illegal by the Republican-dominated US Supreme Court, and the checks and balances in the American system seem to be working, to everyone’s mild relief.
The problem: this led to Trump predictably having a meltdown, decrying that everyone who did this is an un-American traitor working against him, and then announcing that he was going to seek out 15% tariffs on everybody in the world as part of his tantrum.
And even though he has to go through the political process for this, he decided to do this through another executive order which will likely suffer the same fate.
From his side, Emmanuel Macron praised the “powers and checks and balances in democracies” displayed by the US Supreme Court, and announced that Europe “wants to continue exporting ... and to do so under the fairest rules possible ... without being subject to unilateral decisions.”
The Quai d’Orsay, through the Minister of State for French Foreign Trade, Nicolas Forissier, made it clear in comments to the FT this week that the European Union had the tools necessary to respond to the American provocations.
In an official statement, the Quai d’Orsay stated that it had “taken note of the Supreme Court’s decision” and that it is “in close contact with the European Commission and Member States to analyse the decision and assess its consequences. Based on this assessment and the consequences that the US administration will draw from it, a united EU approach will be necessary.”
From across the border, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for talks with EU leaders to find a common response before facing Donald Trump in Washington.
“We will have a very clear European position on this, because customs policy is the responsibility of the EU, and not of the individual member states”
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaking to ARD
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yes please do something on lyon far right groups. for a city with a centuries old reputation for secrecy, they are very in your face down there.
Reading your newsletter when I encountered this gem: "the muslamics and their ray guns replacing white people." Spilled a bit of tea giggling at the accuracy and the absurdity. Would love to read more about the far right in Lyon. Until the rally in Lyon where the homocide occurred, I had no idea.