French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a government meeting on Tuesday to address the fight against “violent ultra or extreme groups” following the killing of 23 year-old conservative university student Quentin Deranque.
Le Monde reports the gathering at the Élysée Palace will see Macron, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, and Internal Security representatives “take stock of the actions taken to combat violent ultra or extreme groups.”
Sources from Macron’s entourage reportedly told Agence France-Presse on Monday the meeting will also involve “reviewing future risks.”
“The issue of possible dissolutions may be addressed as part of a comprehensive approach, without partisan bias from either extreme,” the source reportedly said.
“He [Macron] views with concern the increasing porosity between certain parties or intermediary bodies and certain violent movements that has been observed in recent months,” an executive branch source claimed to Le Monde.
Tuesday’s Macron-led meeting comes days after Deranque was after he was beaten and killed by multiple people in an alleged act of Antifa violence on the sidelines of a protest in Lyon against MEP Rima Hassan of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party.
Deranque died after the assailants caused him a traumatic brain injury.
Breitbart News reported over the weekend that seven people have so far been charged over the killing of Deranque. Most of the suspects reportedly members, “or close to” the Young Guard Antifa cell in Lyon, a group formed by LFI MP Raphaël Arnault in 2018. Two of the men charged, Jacques-Elie Favrot and Adrian Besseyre, are linked to Arnault.
As Breitbart News reported, the young man’s death sparked widespread condemnation of far-left violence. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said shortly after Deranque’s death that “clearly it was the far left was behind it.” Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin also said that Deranque was “clearly killed by the far left.”
The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism said on Thursday:
“Reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all. Violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety. We will continue to monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice.”
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Macron said the meeting “must provide a comprehensive overview of the violent action groups that are wreaking havoc and have links to political parties of all kinds.”
“In the Republic, no violence is legitimate,” Macron said. “Only republican forces can act because they protect republican order. There is no place for militias, wherever they come from.”
Macron delivered his remarks moments before a “Justice for Quentin” peaceful demonstration was held in Lyon. At least 3,200 people reportedly joined the peaceful protest.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is among those who have condemned the killing of Deranque and far-left violence, describing it as a “wound for the whole of Europe.”
Macron responded to Meloni’s remarks by urging her to stop “commenting on what is happening in other countries.”
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