The Lyon prosecutor's office announced Sunday that it is now focusing its investigation on identifying the "direct perpetrators" of the fatal attack on Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old student who died Saturday after being violently attacked Thursday evening. Investigators say they have gathered "several significant witness statements," and a press conference with the prosecutor is scheduled for Monday at 15 p.m.
An investigation has been opened for aggravated manslaughter and aggravated assault, with aggravating circumstances related to the group nature of the attack, the use of a weapon, and the concealment of the assailants' faces. According to the family's lawyer, the young man was the victim of a "methodically prepared ambush." A video presented as footage of the attack, broadcast by TF1, shows about ten people striking three individuals on the ground.
An immediate political controversy
The affair triggered an explosive political sequence, with immediate pressure on La France Insoumise, accused by some officials of fostering a climate of "political violence." Gérald Darmanin asserted that the "far left" was "clearly" responsible, whileEmmanuel Macron He denounced "anti-Semitic expressions" emanating from a party he places "on the far left." Jean-Luc Mélenchon rejected these accusations, asserting that the accounts relayed in the hours following the events "have no relation to reality."
The prosecutor's office has, at this stage, established no official link with the Jeune Garde, an anti-fascist group cited by the far right. The organization has stated that it has suspended all its activities and maintains that it cannot be held responsible. On social media, a parliamentary assistant to LFI (France Unbowed) MP Raphaël Arnault, who has been implicated, denied any involvement through his lawyer, saying he has received death threats. Several rallies have taken place, notably in Paris, while in Lyon, municipal candidates announced they were suspending their campaigns after what they described as a "tragedy."
