Antifascist groups and the left party France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI) are being targeted by right-wing and conservative forces after a far-right activist died from injuries sustained during a clash on February 12 in Lyon. The incident occurred not far from a venue where LFI MEP Rima Hassan was due to appear. This information is now being manipulated by the party’s political opponents and the mainstream media to suggest that LFI and groups which form its base promote violence.

As a result of the smear campaign, dozens of locations – including LFI’s national and local headquarters, as well as the offices of several candidates running in the upcoming municipal elections – have been attacked. The party’s Paris headquarters had to be evacuated on Wednesday due to a bomb threat, while other offices were vandalized with paint. Multiple LFI members reported explicit threats to the police.

Source: Paul Vannier/X

The confrontation took place on February 12 in Lyon between far-right activists “protecting” a protest action organized by the xenophobic women’s group Némésis and individuals believed to be antifascist activists. During the clash, Quentin Deranque, who was allegedly an activist in the neo-Nazi group Allobroges Bourgoin, suffered severe head injuries and died a few days later. The news was quickly distorted by the right – from politicians like Marion Maréchal to groups like Némésis – to promote retaliation against progressives.

In addition to LFI, student unions, the group Jeune Garde, and similar networks were accused by far-right figures of being responsible for Deranque’s death, according to Mediapart. Soon after the incident, right-wing politicians and activists launched a malign campaign of public accusations, even circulating the names and personal information of individuals they claimed were involved.

Many of these claims were soon proven false. In one case, a student accused by the right of participating in the attack was confirmed to be in Latin America at the time. However, the debunking of such allegations did not stop threats against those whose identities had been publicized.

Watch: Fascism haunts Europe again

While virtually the whole French political spectrum condemned the fatal outcome of the clash in Lyon, left and progressive figures warned that Deranque’s death is being instrumentalized in a long-lasting effort to undermine LFI. “The far right, rushing to exploit the tragedy, has only one goal,” LFI’s Paul Vannier wrote on social media. “To justify its violence against LFI, its main political opponent, by making scandalous connections between the presence of a LFI MEP in Lyon and Quentin’s death.”

Attempts have also been made to implicate another LFI parliamentarian, Raphaël Arnault, formerly a member of the antifascist group Jeune Garde, which was dissolved last year for allegedly inciting violence against far-right formations. These claims have been repeatedly contested. Many local activists and social scientists have pointed out that antifascist self-defense groups in France – particularly in Lyon, where far-right organizations have been linked to over 100 violent incidents between 2010 and 2025 – appeared in response to pre-existing threats.

In an interview with L’Humanité, journalist Sébastien Bourdon explained that “antifa groups like Jeune Garde – formed in Lyon in 2018 after multiple attacks on meetings, anarchist libraries, demonstrations – were born primarily out of need for self-defense.”

Bourdon also warned that the ongoing martyrization of Deranque within far-right circles could add to the groups’ momentum and lead to their increased presence in public spaces. Assaults and threats targeting left organizations appear to confirm this concern, as do reports of far-right marches and rallies in some of Paris’s historically antifascist neighborhoods following Deranque’s death.

Attacks on the left have also spilled into the national assembly: a minute of silence for Deranque was held on Tuesday, followed once again by accusations against LFI.

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In response to the attacks, LFI has reaffirmed its commitment to nonviolence. Several party leaders, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Manuel Bompard, emphasized that ultimate responsibility for Deranque’s death lies with state authorities, who had been alerted to the far-right protest but chose not to deploy forces to prevent potential clashes. They and other left figures have also criticized the right and center for conveniently ignoring the broader context of far-right violence.

“Since 2022, 12 people have been murdered by the far right,” Mélenchon said during a recent appearance. “Federico Martín Aramburú, Mahmadou Cissé, Aboubakar Cissé, Hichem Miraoui, to name but a few. Our persecutors have not said a word about them.”

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