NEW: Antifa-Aligned Lawmaker Convicted Of Aggravated Assault
A far-left lawmaker in France, who also serves as a spokesman for an Antifa organization in the nation’s third-largest city of Lyon, has been convicted of aggravated assault against a supposed right-wing activist.
Raphaël Arnault, a member of the leftist La France Insoumise (France in Revolt/LFI) party and spokesman for the Lyon-based La Jeune Garde Antifasciste (The Young Anti-Fascist Guard), was convicted in connection with a group attack on an individual they believed to be a member of a right-wing organization. Arnault was initially convicted in 2022 and was given a four-month suspended sentence.
The victim, identified only in court documents as Geoffrey L., was approached by a group of six radical leftists who proceeded to surround him and demand that he unlock his phone. After he refused, the group assaulted him, causing an injury to the victim’s arm.
Arnault was specifically identified by the victim as one of his attackers, Breitbart News reported.
Arnault co-founded the Antifa collective Jeune Garde Antifasciste in 2018 and has served as the group’s spokesman
Photo: Claire Jacquin
Arnault appealed the 2022 conviction but ultimately dropped the effort in March, meaning that the aggravated assault conviction is now definitive. In addition to the four month susppended sentence, the far-left MP was also ordered to pay €1,600 in damages, according to Le Figaro.
During a hearing, Arnault told the court that he and his colleagues were “fed up with activists like him attacking minorities because of their sexual orientation or skin color.”
Jeune Garde Antifasciste is a far-left “anti-fascist” organization that was co-founded by Arnault in 2018 to counter alleged violence from right-wing groups. It expanded to some of France’s largest cities in the following years, including Paris, Lille and Strasbourg by focusing on “street-level” activities like direct confrontations, physical defense of social movements, and public actions against political enemies deemed “far right.”
The group has been classified as an ultra-left extremist group by French authorities due to involvement in at least nine violent incidents, including targeted assaults on perceived far-right individuals. It was officially disbanded by decree in a Council of Ministers decision on June 12, 2025, a decision that is currently being appealed.
Despite Arnault being labeled as a threat to national security by French authorities, the far-left LFI party continued to back his candidacy and he was elected to the National Assembly to represent Vaucluse’s 1st constituency in 2024.
The conviction comes as the U.S. government moves to crack down on Antifa organizations in the United States and abroad. On November 13, the State Department designated four European Antifa groups as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
This includes Antifa-OST, a German organization that has been linked to several violent attacks.