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.
Yes, I try to be forgiving and think it’s mostly due to a mob mentality. Everyone wants to one-up each other to show that they’re more dedicated to the cause, and eventually that leads to cheering when others are murdered for their beliefs.
You have a good point about ideological extremists taking power. It’s what happened in Nazi Germany. It’s what happened in the Soviet Union. It’s what’s happening in North Korea.
I wish we, collectively, could understand that this has more to do with human nature rather than what’s actually being discussed. Until we reach that point, we can expect to keep making the same mistakes again and again.