French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday he would ⁠summon the US ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, over comments made about the death of a French far-right activist earlier this month, which he labeled as “interference.”

Quentin Deranque, 23, died two days after suffering severe head injuries in a brawl in the city of Lyon on February 12, drawing criticism from the Trump administration which described the death as the 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.

On Friday, 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 X post said.

The fatal brawl was caught on video, which showed several masked people kicking and punching a man on the ground, causing widespread shock and anger in France.

Authorities have charged two people with murder in connection with Deranque’s death, and altogether 11 have been arrested.

The incident has also sparked a diplomatic spat 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.”

This is not the first time that Kushner, father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, has been summoned amid criticism from the French authorities.

In August 2025, the Foreign Ministry summoned Kushner after he accused the French government of a “lack of sufficient action” in confronting antisemitism. (CNN)

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