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ix days after the young far-right activist Quentin Deranque died, after being beaten on a sidewalk in the city of Lyon, the arrests of several suspects have once again sparked the necessary debate over the radical left La France Insoumise (LFI) party's ambiguous positions. On Tuesday and Wednesday, February 17 and 18, the judicial police arrested 11 people. Several of the suspects had been listed as national security threats for political radicalization, due to their ties to Jeune Garde, a Lyon-based antifascist group that, in June 2025, was dissolved over its violent activism.
Three individuals among the arrested suspects were close associates of Raphaël Arnault, an LFI MP and the founder of Jeune Garde: two of his parliamentary assistants and a former intern with his parliamentary team. Their arrests have now established links between some of the suspects and LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon's movement. This connection, coupled with the serious nature of the incident, requires LFI's leadership to do more than issue denials and evasive responses.
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Who is Raphaël Arnault, French MP and founder of the antifascist group Jeune Garde?
