A man holds a torch at a memorial event in Lyon for the killed 23-year-old right-wing extremist Quentin D.Image: keystone
The violent death of a right-wing extremist in Lyon has fueled fears of possible acts of revenge. French head of state Macron called for “calm, restraint and respect”.
02/16/2026, 05:3402/16/2026, 05:34
The violent death of a young right-wing extremist in the French city of Lyon has fueled fears of possible revenge attacks. French head of state Emmanuel Macron called for “calm, restraint and respect” on Saturday. In France, “no ideology can ever justify killing,” the president wrote in the short message service X. On Sunday, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin accused the “extreme left” of being responsible for the crime.
23-year-old Quentin D. was brutally attacked on Thursday on the sidelines of protests against an appearance by left-wing MEP Rima Hassan in Lyon. The student and member of the Identitarian Movement died of his serious injuries in a hospital in the French city on Saturday. The authorities have launched an investigation.
The act of violence occurred during a speech by left-wing MP Rima Hassan (here during an appearance in Geneva last October).Image: KEYSTONE
According to the identity collective Némésis, D. was part of the security service that was supposed to ensure the safety of the anti-Hassan demonstrators. He and other identities were therefore attacked by Antifa activists. The French television station TF1 showed a video on Saturday evening that is said to show the crime. The footage shows three men being beaten up by a group of attackers.
The victim’s family calls for “restraint”.
The lawyer for D.’s family spoke of an “ambush” that had been “methodically prepared”. The attackers were “organized and trained”. The dead man’s family called for “calm and restraint.”
Numerous French politicians commented on the incident. Justice Minister Darmanin blamed the political left for the crime. “Words can kill,” said Darmanin on Sunday on RTL. He observes speeches from the extreme left, especially from the left-wing populist party La France Insoumise (LFI), “which unfortunately lead to unbridled violence in online services and then in the physical world.” The politician Hassan and LFI boss Jean-Luc Mélenchon also said “not a word to the young man’s family”.
Mélenchon also expressed his “dismay” at the crime on Sunday. “We express our sympathy and condolences to his family and relatives,” he said in Montpellier. His party LFI rejects any violence and the allegations made against him are “remote from reality”.
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