A 23-year-old man identified as Quentin has been killed after being beaten repeatedly in the head by militants linked to the Antifa-aligned Jeune Garde movement outside Sciences Po Lyon on 12 February.
Quentin was providing security for Némésis, an organisation that campaigns for European women’s safety, when approximately 40 militants confronted around 15 security staff protecting female activists from the right-wing feminist collective.
The fatal assault occurred following violent clashes on the sidelines of a conference held by La France Insoumise MEP Rima Hassan at the Lyon university. Tensions had erupted when several female members of Némésis unfurled a banner criticizing “Islamo-leftists.”
Alice Cordier, director of Némésis, stated the women were physically confronted by anti-fascist groups during the initial clash. A 19-year-old woman was reportedly strangled and dragged during the confrontation.
Quentin was isolated from the security detail and beaten repeatedly in the head, sustaining a brain injury. He received last rites from a priest on the afternoon following the attack before succumbing to his injuries.
The killing marks a deadly escalation in confrontations between opposing political factions in France, with university campuses becoming violent flashpoints. The Sciences Po Lyon conference became the catalyst for the fatal violence.
French authorities have not publicly confirmed arrests or charges stemming from the 12 February violence. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Quentin’s death and the earlier confrontations involving female activists continues.
