French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, February 14, urged calm and restraint after the fatal beating of a 23-year-old French youth aligned with the far-right on the sidelines of a conference by a hard-left lawmaker in the southeastern city of Lyon.
The death of the young man – identified only as Quentin – has intensified tensions between France’s far-right and radical left who are both eyeing 2027 presidential elections.
He had been hospitalized in Lyon on Thursday after being attacked while providing what his supporters said was security for a protest against an appearance by hard-left MEP Rima Hassan at the Lyon branch of the Sciences Po university.
France right now is a powder keg that is ready to explode at any moment.
This far-right activist was beaten to death by a street group calling themselves the Young Guards (“Jeune Gardes”) What makes this case so dangerous is that Raphael Arnault, leader of the Young Guards, is a famous French MP.
He is part of a Left-Wing Party calling themselves the French Rebellion (France Insoumise).
Raphael Arnault has been involved in street fights with the Young Guards and even sentenced to jail by a judge. However, his political party always defended him.
Now, the French Rebellion Party is getting blamed for this death. And they are facing open calls for retribution.
Things could REALLY get out of control
For the sake of accuracy, as i think the translation “France rebellion” makes it sound more ominous, i believe something closer to the meaning would be like “indomitable France”.