French government officials have blamed the “ultra-left” for the death of a far-right activist in Lyon, after he was attacked on the sidelines of a conference by hard left France Unbowed (LFI) MEP Rima Hassan.
Quentin D, 23, died in hospital from a traumatic brain injury on Saturday evening. Supporters said he was providing security at a protest against Hassan’s appearance at the Science Po university when he was assaulted by rival activists.
“It was clearly the ultra-left that killed him,” said Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, accusing hard-left politicians — including those from LFI, the largest left-wing faction in the French parliament — of fuelling “unbridled violence” with their language.
“Words can kill,” Darmanin added, accusing Hassan and LFI leader Jean-Luc Melenchon of “not having a word to say for the family of the young man”.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez echoed the accusation, telling public broadcaster France 2 the “ultra-left” was “clearly at the helm” in the attack.
On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron had described Quentin D as the victim of “an unprecedented outpouring of violence,” offering his condolences to his family.
“In the (French) Republic, no cause, no ideology will ever justify killing”, he wrote in a post on X, adding that “prosecuting, bringing to justice and condemning the perpetrators of this despicable act is essential”.
Pre-election tension
The incident has further fuelled tension between France’s far right and hard left ahead of municipal elections nationwide in March and the 2027 presidential race.
Several candidates in Lyon’s local elections announced on Sunday that they were suspending their campaigns.
“I can’t see myself campaigning in these conditions. I call on everyone to take the time to realise the seriousness of the moment we are all living through “, UDR-RN candidate Alexandre Dupalais told France 3.
“Quentin’s death leaves me speechless,” businessman Jean-Michel Aulas, who is running for Lyon mayor, said on X on Saturday. “Nothing justifies killing or dying for one’s ideas. Nothing justifies political disagreement leading to violence,” he continued.
Without mentioning any suspension of his campaign, the outgoing Lyon mayor Grégory Doucet, who is also standing for re-election, deplored “a tragedy” and stressed that “such an outbreak of violence in the heart of the city is unacceptable”.
Doucet pledged “the City of Lyon will put all its resources at the disposal of the Justice Department to apprehend the individuals involved in Quentin’s death”.
Right and far right up in arms against LFI
The liberal-conservative Republicans (LR) and the far-right National Rally (RN) denounced the violence and slammed the LFI.
“It’s not the police who kill in France, it’s the far left,” said LR president and former Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, often a target of LFI criticism over claims of excessive police violence.
“I’m outraged that LFI is now creating fertile ground for this ultra-violence”, said Othman Nasrou, secretary general of LR and vice-president of the Île-de-France region.
RN’s Marine Le Pen criticised “the government,” calling on it “to get out of its torpor in the face of far-left militias who for years, relying on the complacency and support of parties such as France Insoumise, have been multiplying intimidation, threats and attacks in the public space”.
Others blamed the killing on la Jeune Garde (Young Guard), a self-proclaimed anti-fascist youth offshoot of the LFI.
“The militia of Mélenchon and LFI has killed”, Identity-Liberties MEP Marion Maréchal said, calling for “the inclusion of the Young Guard and this whole antifa movement on the list of terrorist organisations”.
The French government dissolved the Young Guard in June 2025 over “inciting violent acts against individuals,” together with far-right group Lyon Populaire.
LFI rejects responsibility for ‘horror’
“LFI condemns any physical violence in the strongest possible terms, as it has always done,” LFI national coordinator Manuel Bompard wrote on X on Friday, adding that “this climate of violence must stop” and that “no one should lose their life for their ideas”.
Hassan, a European lawmaker in the Left group, also distanced herself from the violence in Lyon.
“I was appalled to learn the facts concerning the young man Quentin,” Hassan said.
“For each of my trips, the one and only security service with which I collaborate and which accompanies me is that of LFI, which never resorts to violence and which is in no way involved in these clashes,” she stated.
Young Guard founder Raphael Arnault, an LFI lawmaker, expressed his “horror” at the fatal beating, and the group denied involvement, saying it had “suspended all activities”.
LFI lawmaker Eric Coquerel, speaking to Franceinfo, condemned “all political violence” but said the activists responsible for Hassan’s security “were in no way involved in what happened”.
He pointed instead to a particular “context” in Lyon marked by violence from “far-right groups”.
Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the French Socialist Party, denounced the “unacceptable level of violence”: “In a democracy, no one should die for their ideas”.