France to summon US ambassador over comments on far-right activist’s death
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Makeshift memorial for far-right activist Quentin Deranque, who was beaten to death in a fight with alleged hard-left activists, in Lyon, France, on Feb 21.
PHOTO: REUTERS
PARIS - French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Feb 22 that he would summon US ambassador to France Charles Kushner over comments on the killing of a French far-right activist
French far-right activist Quentin Deranque was beaten to death in a fight with alleged hard-left activists, in an incident that shocked the nation and has been called “France’s Charlie Kirk moment”, referring to the 2025 shooting of the US conservative activist.
The US Embassy in France and the US State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism said they were monitoring the case, warning on social media platform X that “violent radical leftism was on the rise” and should be treated as a public safety threat.
“We refuse all political opportunism around this drama, which is the bereavement of a French family,” Mr Barrot said during an interview with French media outlets France Info, France Inter and Le Monde.
He added that he would also raise the US sanctions against former European commissioner Thierry Breton and French judge at the International Criminal Court Nicolas Guillou, describing the measures as attacks on the autonomy of European Union decision-making and the independence of the international justice system.
The Tribune newspaper reported on the night of Feb 21 that French President Emmanuel Macron had written to US President Donald Trump asking him to lift the sanctions against Mr Breton and Judge Guillou. REUTERS
