France is still reeling from the death of young nationalist activist Quentin, who was lynched by anti-fascists in Lyon on Thursday, February 12th. The revelations surrounding this tragedy and the ensuing political reactions reveal the extent of corruption within the political class in the face of a heinous murder that should have been unanimously condemned.
After prime-time television aired footage of Quentin’s lynching, there was no longer any doubt: this was not a street fight, but indeed a killing of unprecedented savagery. Yet the media continue to use the term “brawl”, as if the responsibility were shared. The minister of justice has just used the word “brawl” again, more than a week after the events, even though eleven suspects have now been arrested and six charged with voluntary manslaughter. One of them was already under judicial supervision for an antisemitic assault. Another was known to the police for violence, drug use, theft and carrying weapons. A seventh has been charged with complicity.
For the time being, far-left MP Raphaël Arnault is still not under investigation, even though it appears that three of his colleagues (two assistants and an intern) were involved in the attack. His party, La France Insoumise (LFI), has no intention of suspending this troublesome MP, who is already on the S list, i.e., registered on the national list of persons who may pose a threat to national security.
It is ironic, not to say dramatic, to note that French news was recently dominated by the case of the European parliamentary assistants of the Rassemblement National (RN), with the justice system keen to place the blame on Marine Le Pen. In the Quentin affair, a member of parliament finds himself employing not alleged fraudsters but murderers, and no one in the hierarchy of the National Assembly has any objections to this. When asked about the possible suspension of Arnault, LFI’s response was very clear: “That is out of the question. Under what rules should an employer be responsible for the actions of their employees?” They seem to forget that Article 1242 of the French Civil Code provides for a form of liability on the part of persons for whom one is responsible as an employer.
The far left has still not grasped the full extent of what really happened. As in the Charlie Kirk case, we read between the lines, or sometimes very clearly, the idea that Quentin had it coming for defending ‘repugnant’ ideas—a shameless argument from people who would never dare claim that a rape victim ‘had it coming’ because of how she dressed.
The family of the accused grit their teeth, but they have no regrets, and they have no thoughts for the victim and his loved ones. In the left-wing media, questions are being asked about the best ways to combat ‘far-right violence.’ A few days after Quentin’s death was announced, the communist newspaper L’Humanité ran the headline: “Violence is inherent to the far right.” On the far left, violence can only be downplayed as incidental, even when it leads to death. For the past week, left-wing figures have been issuing statements of denial. For Marine Tondelier, leader of the Greens, “The way in which La France Insoumise, as a political organisation, is being singled out as primarily responsible for the climate of violence does not reflect the reality of the situation.” Alma Dufour, an LFI MP, declared that she was absolutely certain that Arnault’s associates had nothing to do with the incident and was ready to “have her two hands cut” about it, as the French proverb goes (en mettre sa main à couper). Needless to say, she still has her hands, though she should have lost them.
We must face the facts: there is indeed a political and media system that protects its own kind. The tribute to Quentin in Lyon, the city where he grew up and died, was almost banned by the municipal authorities: the Green Party mayor, Grégory Doucet, is close to La Jeune Garde, the anti-fascist movement behind the murder. It took the intervention of the minister of the interior for the march to go ahead—with the support and recommendation of Quentin’s family, who are dignified but do not intend to remain silent.
The empathy around Quentin’s death is strong and deep. The young man’s profile is edifying, as evidenced by the portrait painted of him by Paul Sugy, a journalist at Le Figaro and also a native of Lyon. He was a gentle young man who had come to support the girls of the Collectif Némésis who were demonstrating against the conference of MEP Rima Hassan out of a spirit of chivalry: we are not going to let them face danger alone, he would have said. Having grown up far from the faith, he had recently turned to Catholicism after discovering the traditional liturgy. In a rare and moving turn of events, he had converted his own father, becoming his godfather. Ironically, his far-left murderers come from prominent French bourgeois families, while he himself comes from a modest family with a French father and a mother of Peruvian origin.
The Quentin affair has taken on an international dimension, with the involvement of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who offered her condolences over the young man’s death. Italy is particularly concerned by this affair: Raphaël Arnault, the La France Insoumise MP who employs the parliamentary assistants who lynched Quentin, travelled to Rome to stir up violence. Macron’s scandalous response to his Italian counterpart—“let everyone stay at home, and the sheep will be well looked after”—cannot fail to provoke indignation, coming from a man who, when Meloni came to power, claimed he wanted to monitor “very closely” the evolution of respect for the rule of law in Italy. We can appreciate the use of the term “sheep” to describe citizens who are being led here to the slaughterhouse.
Since Quentin’s death, calm has not returned; quite the contrary. Nemesis activists are being harassed, condemned to remain locked in their homes, and receive daily death threats from far-left activists. They have appealed to the interior ministry and feel abandoned. Friends of Quentin who were present at the time of the tragedy are also being persecuted, according to ASLA, the Association for the Support of Whistleblowers.
Will the tribute to Quentin, to be held on Saturday, February 21st, in Lyon, be an opportunity for unity on the Right? Unfortunately, nothing is less certain. In an excess of questionable caution, the RN has circulated an internal order not to attend the various support demonstrations to be held throughout France. Jordan Bardella, on television, has stated that once in power, he would fight with the same energy against “both” the far-left and far-right movements, thus reinforcing the media line that overstates the threat posed by the far-right, which, in France in 2026, is only a ridiculous, marginal influence, whereas the far Left is well established.
Quentin’s family’s lawyer announced that a complaint had been filed for “murder by an organised gang.” The murderers would therefore face life imprisonment. For now, most suspects face charges of voluntary manslaughter. Jacques-Elie Favrot, a parliamentary assistant to Raphaël Arnault, is the only one under investigation for complicity in murder by instigation. Under this charge, he faces up to thirty years in prison. The trial will be an opportunity to see whether or not justice can be done without bias. It will undoubtedly be highly political.
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