Mbappe, France teammates express anguish as cops kill teen in Paris

All my thoughts go to the family and loved ones of Nael, this little angel gone much too soon

Kylian Mbappe and other prominent French football players have expressed their indignation after the death of a 17-year-old delivery driver shot and killed during a police check in a Paris suburb.

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“I hurt for my France,” Mbappe, who grew up in the Paris suburb of Bondy, wrote on Wednesday in a Twitter message accompanied by broken hearts emoticons. “Unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go to the family and loved ones of Nael, this little angel gone much too soon.”

The death prompted nationwide concern and triggered unrest in multiple towns. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 31 people were arrested, 25 police officers injured and 40 cars burned in overnight disturbances. The tensions focused around the suburban area of Nanterre, where lawyers say the teen, identified as Nael M, was killed on Tuesday during a traffic check. 

The police officer suspected of firing on him was detained and faces potential manslaughter charges, according to the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. Mike Maignan, another French international player, tweeted about the sense of injustice he felt. “A bullet in the head...It’s always for the same people that being in the wrong leads to death,” he wrote.

Maignan’s France teammate Jules Kounde criticised the media coverage of the teenager’s death. “As if this latest police blunder wasn’t enough, the 24-hour news channels are taking advantage of it by making a big fuss,” he wrote.

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