France will summon U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner to protest remarks by the Trump administration regarding the fatal beating of a far-right activist, the French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Saturday.
Barrot’s statement came after the U.S. State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau posted on X that “reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all.”
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Deranque, a far-right activist, died last week in Lyon from brain injuries sustained during an attack linked to a scuffle at a student meeting, where far-left lawmaker Rima Hassan was the keynote speaker. The incident has fueled concerns over rising political tensions ahead of France’s next presidential election.
President Emmanuel Macron urged calm as around 3,000 people marched in Lyon in tribute to Deranque, organized by far-right groups. Barrot condemned attempts to politicize the tragedy, saying, “We reject any instrumentalization of this tragedy, which has plunged a French family into mourning, for political ends. We have no lessons to learn, particularly on the issue of violence, from the international reactionary movement.”
The State Department’s post described “violent radical leftism” as a growing threat and said the U.S. will monitor the situation and expect justice for those responsible. Seven individuals have faced preliminary charges. Six were charged with intentional homicide, aggravated violence, and criminal conspiracy, while a seventh was charged with complicity in the same crimes, the Lyon public prosecutor’s office said.
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Barrot also plans to raise U.S. sanctions against former EU commissioner Thierry Breton and French ICC judge Nicolas Guillou, calling them “unjustified and unjustifiable.” The Foreign Affairs Ministry has not announced a date for the meeting.
Kushner had previously been summoned in August last year over a letter to Macron accusing France of insufficient action against antisemitism; French officials met with his representative after the ambassador did not attend.