Arrests have been made over the killing of Quentin Deranque, the 23-year-old patriotic activist who was last week attacked in Lyon. French authorities opened a murder probe on Monday and have since detained 11 suspects.
Among those who have been taken in by officers is Jacques-Elie Favrot, a (now former) assistant to Raphaël Arnault. Arnault is a member of parliament from the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party and, importantly here, founded the ‘antifascist’ La Jeune Garde group, which officials believe was involved in the deadly attack.
Responding to the arrest, Identité Libertés leader Marion Maréchal said that Arnault and his team “must be questioned immediately,” adding:
Favrot and this gang of criminals must not be used to conceal the real responsibilities.
Ce soir, les interpellations des suspects confirment : – qu’un collaborateur d’un député LFI est impliqué dans le meurtre (Favrot), – lors d’un événement d’une député LFI (Hassan), – alors qu’il est membre de la Jeune Garde – comme tous les autres suspects, milice déjà identifiée…
Reports on Wednesday also highlighted the presence of La Jeune Garde in Italy, too. According to il Giornale, “with dozens of meetings, conferences, events, marches, dinners, and even a plaque bearing the logo of the City of Rome, the ties to the Jeune GardeAntifasciste are deep and widespread.” The paper pointed specifically at Arnault as “the glue that holds them together.”
And former Italian MEP Vincenzo Sofo, cited by French feminist activist Alice Cordier, says Arnault was present at a recent ‘antifascist’ demonstration in Rome where young right-wingers were attacked.
Arnault said on Tuesday evening that his team “initiated the procedures” to terminate Favrot’s contract “before learning of his arrest.”
The detainees include both people suspected of having participated in the beating and of aiding them. We will be reporting back on the upcoming proceedings.
Meanwhile on Tuesday evening, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini criticised “cowards” in France who have been filmed tearing down posters in memory of Deranque while declaring: “I am in favour of Quentin’s death.”
Giovani francesi di estrema sinistra che strappano i manifesti in memoria del 23enne di destra linciato e pestato a morte dagli “antifa” a Lione, e affermano anche “Io sono a favore della morte di Quentin”. Vigliacchi. pic.twitter.com/7TQ4QwEWZA
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
