A video circulating online shows a Mexican man running from three police officers in Pasco, Washington. He turns to face them and surrender as they open fire, killing him instantly.
The Mexican in the video was 35-year-old Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a troubled Michoacan native who did not speak English and had been throwing rocks at cars and officers.
The incident represents the fourth police killing in Pasco in seven months and has led to international condemnation.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto condemned the shooting as a “disproportionate use of lethal force,” labeling the incident as “regrettable and outrageous.”
Activists have taken to the streets to protest the killing and multiple investigations are now underway, including an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The video has sparked comparisons with the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, another unarmed man shot dead by police. The incident has highlighted divisions between the small city of Pasco’s growing Latino population and representatives of authority. Police and local politicians are still largely white.
Unfortunately, the problem extends beyond Pasco. 74 Mexicans have died in police custody in the U.S. since 2006. Of this total, 56 cases have been resolved. Damages were paid to the families of victims in nine cases only, while 47 had no consequences. Eighteen cases are pending, one of them since 2006.
Yet Reina Torres, of the Secretariat of External Relations (SRE) expects a fair and swift trial.
“In the case of Antonio we trust that there can be a difference, because there are many witnesses and a video that is very clear,” she explained.