 "A demonstration in memory of the far-right activist Quentin Deranque in Lyon, France on Sunday. AFP")
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Sunday that he would be summoning the US Ambassador to France, Charles Kushner , over comments made on the death of far-right French activist earlier this month. Barrot condemned the remarks and labelled them as “interference”.
23-year-old French far-right activist Quentin Deranque died two days after he suffered severe head injuries in a brawl in the city of Lyon on February 12. This quickly drew criticism from US President Donald Trump’s administration, which termed the incident a result of “left-wing violence”.
“We are summoning the US ambassador to France because the embassy issued a commentary on this event, which concerns the national community. We reject any interference in this event,” Barrot said in an interview with radio station France Inter.
Why is France summoning the US envoy?
The announcement from the French foreign minister came just days after the US embassy in France shared an X post from the US State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, which said reports that 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,” the embassy wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The fatal brawl was caught on video, which showed several masked people punching a man on the ground. The video stirred widespread shock and anger in France. Soon after Deranque’s demise, authorities charged two people with murder. So far, 11 people have been arrested in the violence.
The incident also sparked a diplomatic row between France and Italy after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Deranque’s death was caused “by groups linked to left-wing extremism” and condemned “a climate of ideological hatred sweeping several nations.”
It is pertient to note that this is not the first time Kushner, father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner , has been summoned amid criticism from the French authorities. In August last year, the French foreign ministry summoned Kushner after he accused the country’s government of a “lack of sufficient action” in confronting antisemitism.