Superstar Kylian Mbappé and the French national soccer team called for an end to the violence after the fatal police shot at a 17-year-old and called for dialogue.
“The time of violence must give way to a time of mourning, dialogue and recovery,” the team wrote in a statement shared by national team captain Mbappé on social media on Friday evening.
Les Bleus was “shocked by the brutal death of young Nahel”. At the same time, however, the team demanded that violence should give way to “other peaceful and constructive forms of expression”.
Clashes have shaken cities and neighborhoods across France since the death of the teenager who was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb on Tuesday. Violent protests broke out again on Saturday night.
“Since that tragic event, we have witnessed the expression of popular anger, the content of which we understand but the form of which we cannot approve,” wrote the national team. The players said they share “those feelings of pain and sadness” but “it’s your property you’re destroying, your neighborhoods, your cities, your places of fulfillment”.
“In this context of extreme tension, we cannot remain silent”
“In this context of extreme tension, we cannot remain silent and our civic conscience encourages us to call for reassurance, awareness and accountability,” the runners-up team also wrote.
In a separate message to fans of the France national team, national team coach Didier Deschamps welcomed the players’ initiative. “My staff and I agree,” he said: “We are also thinking of the Nahel family. Without wanting to lecture anyone, however, I am deeply convinced that violence has never solved anything. I hope with all my heart that the situation calms down.”
Police sources initially said that a car had hit two motorcycle police officers near the La Defense business district on Tuesday.
In a video distributed on the Internet, which was checked for authenticity by “AFP”, one could see how two police officers stopped the vehicle for a check. One of the two police officers aimed his gun at the driver through the car window, then fired at point-blank range as the car accelerated again.