The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an inquiry into suspicions of the reconstitution of the antifascist group La Jeune Garde, dissolved in June 2025, following a report from the Interior Ministry. This comes ten days after the death of far-right militant Quentin Deranque, beaten to death in Lyon by ultragauche members. Emmanuel Macron met with ministers and intelligence services to address violent groups linked to political parties.
On February 25, 2026, the Paris prosecutor's office opened an inquiry for 'participation in the maintenance or reconstitution of a dissolved association or group,' assigned to the Paris gendarmerie's research section. This follows a report from the Interior Ministry on a possible reformation of La Jeune Garde, an ultragauche movement dissolved in June 2025. AFP confirmed this, initially reported by Franceinfo and BFM-TV.
The backdrop involves the death of Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old far-right militant, ten days earlier in Lyon. He was beaten to death by ultragauche members. Seven people have been charged with voluntary homicide and complicity, per one source, while another cites involuntary homicide; several are close to La Jeune Garde, founded in 2018 in Lyon by Raphaël Arnault, now a La France insoumise deputy.
On February 24, Emmanuel Macron met at the Élysée with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, along with intelligence heads, to discuss 'violent action groups that operate and have links with political parties.' A participant noted that services were already monitoring 'reconstitution attempts' of La Jeune Garde-linked groups in at least five territories before Deranque's death. The Lyon events bolstered the case, leading Macron to instruct the Interior Ministry to initiate dissolution procedures for these five 'emanations.'
On Wednesday, in the council of ministers, Macron urged political formations linked to violent groups, whether ultragauche or ultradroite, to 'clarify their position.' Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon stated: 'Nothing in the Republic justifies violence' and that the executive fights 'violences from wherever they come, without hierarchy,' proceeding with necessary dissolutions.
