As protests rock the United States, anger is building in Mexico over its own police brutality case: a young man allegedly beaten to death after officers had detained him for not wearing a face mask during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Hundreds of protesters marched on Thursday evening in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state, to demand justice in the death of Giovanni Lopez. Some broke into the state Capitol and sprayed graffiti on the walls while others later set two police patrol vehicles on fire.
An online campaign calling for justice in Lopez's death has drawn support from stars like Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro.
Authorities in Jalisco said Lopez was detained on May 4 in a town near Guadalajara for a misdemeanour equivalent to disturbing the peace or resisting arrest.
A video of his detention shows municipal police wrestling him into a patrol truck as residents argued with officers about excessive use of force and rules requiring face masks. Hours later, he was taken from his cell for medical treatment and died.
None of the municipal police in the town of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos has been arrested, fired or charged in the death.
Jalisco state prosecutor Gerardo Solis said on Thursday the officers were under investigation.
State Governor Enrique Alfaro called the Lopez's death an atrocity Thursday and promised results from the investigation "within hours".
But the governor also said the incident was "an act of the municipal authorities" and the state wasn't to blame. "I am also hurt; I am also indignant; I am also enraged that these happen in Mexico," Alfaro wrote.
Police brutality has a long history in Mexico which predates the coronavirus pandemic. Police and military personnel have seldom been punished for excessive use of force or extrajudicial killings.
Australian Associated Press