The State Department previously expressed concern regarding the death of French right-wing activist Quentin Deranque, allegedly at the hands of antifa group members
Paris has called in the American ambassador following the Trump administration’s warning about what it called growing “violent radical leftism” in France. The comments followed the killing of French right-wing activist Quentin Deranque by suspected left-wing group members.
Deranque, a 23-year-old math student and member of the nationalist organization Audace Lyon, succumbed on February 14 to head wounds received two days prior in a confrontation with leftist activists. He had been serving as unofficial protection for demonstrators from the right-wing female group Nemesis.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez characterized the incident as “a deliberate homicide” and “a lynching.” Authorities have detained eleven individuals, including two assistants to Raphael Arnault, a parliament member from the leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) party.
On Thursday, the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau shared a post on X—later circulated by the US embassy in France—stating that Deranque’s passing “should concern us all.”
“Violent radical leftism is increasing, and its involvement in Quentin Deranque’s death shows the danger it presents to public safety,” the post stated, noting that Washington anticipates the culprits will face legal consequences.
In a separate statement, State Department Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers indicated the incident illustrated “why we treat political violence—terrorism—with such severity.”
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot declared that France would summon US Ambassador Charles Kushner. “We oppose any exploitation of this tragedy, which has left a French family grieving, for political purposes,” he remarked. “We require no instruction, especially regarding violence, from the international reactionary movement.”
The Deranque scandal already triggered a between French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who described the tragedy as “a wound for all of Europe” and condemned “a climate of ideological hatred sweeping several nations.”
In reply, Macron observed that he was continually struck by how “nationalists, who wish to be left alone in their own nation, are invariably the first to weigh in on events occurring elsewhere.”