France to summon US ambassador after embassy comments on far-right activist’s death
The killing of Quentin Deranque was denounced by US social media accounts as a rise in ‘violent radical leftism’
Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, has summoned Charles Kushner, the US ambassador to France, after comments relating to Quentin Deranque’s killing in the southeastern city of Lyon last week.
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The top French diplomat spoke to Le Monde, France Inter and France Info, saying that “We are going to summon the United States ambassador to France since the US embassy in France commented on this tragedy… which concerns the national community.”
The far-right activist was beaten to death on the sidelines of a demonstration against a politician from the leftwing France Unbowed party.
Deranque died from head injuries on 12 February.
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The US embassy in France and the US state department’s bureau of counter-terrorism took to X to comment on the issue, saying that they were monitoring the case and that “violent radical leftism is on the rise”.
On Friday, Donald Trump’s administration also weighed in on the killing, denouncing “terrorism” in France.
Barrot refuted this, saying “We reject any use 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.”
Deranque’s death comes amidst rising political tensions in France in the run-up to the 2027 presidential vote.
President Emmanuel Macron, who on Saturday called for calm, is not eligible to run in the election because of term limits.
The French Foreign Ministry did not announce when exactly Charles Kushner, the French ambassador and father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would be summoned.
Deranque’s death has been called “France’s Charlie Kirk moment”, in a reference to the killing of the US far-right activist and commentator last year.
Alongside the US, Deranque’s death has also caused a diplomatic spat with Italy.
The right-wing Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, called the death “a wound for all of Europe”, prompting criticism from the French president Emmanuel Macron for weighing in on French domestic affairs.
Six men have been charged over the killing, with a parliamentary assistant to a radical leftwing MP charged with complicity.