A protest held Thursday afternoon to denounce the alleged murder of Giovanni Lopez by Ixtlahuacan police officers in early May turned violent, ending in acts of vandalism and confrontations between demonstrators and anti-riot police.
Perhaps boldened by recent events in the United States, around 150 protesters – most of them young – marched from Guadalajara’s Parque Revolution to the Palacio de Gobierno in the city center. Once there, a small group forced their way into the building where they broke windows and damaged property. Meanwhile, other protestors painted slogans such as “abuse of power” and “murderous state” on the facade of the building.
PHOTOS BY ARTURO CAMPOS
The protest veered out of control when two police patrol vehicles and several motorcycles were set on fire. In one particularly gruesome incident (photo above), a protestor poured inflammable liquid on to the back of one officer and then set him alight. (Fortunately, he only suffered light burns.) Officers in riot gear used tear gas and batons to disperse the angry crowd, and made 26 arrests. Several officers and protestors were reported injured. Jalisco Governor Alfaro was a major target of protestors’ wrath. Thursday, he said police abuse of authority in Mexico “offends and angers” him.
