Mexican authorities investigate as a homicide the death of a young man who was arrested by police in the state of Jalisco for allegedly not wearing face masks on the street during the pandemic. The next day, while still in custody, he died in a hospital. His body showed signs of torture and, according to complaints from his relatives, he even had a gunshot wound to the left foot.
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Giovanni López, a 30-year-old bricklayer, went out to dinner with two relatives on the night of May 4 in his community, Ixtlahuaca de los Membrillos, south of Guadalajara, when he was detained by several municipal agents. They reported that it was due to “an administrative fault” for their aggressiveness on public roads. But in a video broadcast on social networks a very different version is heard.
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“Help me!” López implores as he struggles with three policemen trying to put him in the back seat of a patrol. His relatives repeatedly asked them to release him, but to no avail.
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“Look how they bring it! He was sitting here, just because he doesn’t have a mask on, ”claims a woman on the recording. “He was calm, you beat him (…) Why do you treat him like this?” He asks them.
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#Chek out | The @CEDHJ issued precautionary measures directed at the Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos City Council after a video was released showing municipal police officers beating a man to arrest him for wearing a mouth mask on public roadshttps://t.co/S1uCShG1lf pic.twitter.com/YnLCK8oLXV
– EL OCCIDENTAL (@ELOCCIDENTAL) June 3, 2020
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One of the police officers briefly explained to the woman that they were detaining him because “he was imposing himself” (resisting) and another assured him that it was “because he beat me.”
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Helplessly, the man filming the incident warns officers: “If they kill him, we already know.”
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The following night, López was declared dead at the Guadalajara Civil Hospital, a fact that the Jalisco government has classified as “a painful matter” that he is investigating “thoroughly.”
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His brother Christian López affirmed to the media Latinus.us that the death certificate specifies that he died of traumatic brain injury, that is, of a serious brain injury. He also reported that the body had signs of torture and a hole, apparently by a bullet, in the left foot.
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“My aunt outside the Semefo (Forensic Office) opened it (the bag where the body was) and already saw that he was all beaten, tortured, with a bullet in the leg,” he described to the same media.
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With “extreme severity” injuries
Revealing few details of the autopsy, Jalisco prosecutor Gerardo Solís said in a video conference on Wednesday that – being in police custody – Giovanni López suffered “a series of injuries that by their nature lead to extreme gravity, which can lead to death.”
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According to the official, the versions of the agents implicated in the death do not coincide with what the preliminary investigation of the state Prosecutor’s Office shows. He pointed out that these same police officers, who until this Wednesday continued to patrol the streets of Ixtlahuaca de los Membrillos, are under the authority’s scrutiny for “at least” two other serious charges.
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They are not the only officials in that town who are in the eye of the hurricane. The victim’s brother reported that the city’s mayor, Eduardo Cervantes Aguilar, offered them 200,000 pesos (about $ 9,000) so that they would not broadcast the video of the incident on social networks and that when they did not accept, he threatened them with death. The mayor has not spoken on the matter.
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“If it is verified that the mayor made an economic offer or that he tried by some means to divert the investigation, it would be a very serious conduct and, of course, we would pursue something considered an obstruction of justice,” warned the state prosecutor in the videoconference of the Wednesday.
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Giovanni López’s death has sparked a wave of protests on social media and several fear that justice will not be done. The Governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro, promised Wednesday afternoon through a tweet that “the fact is being thoroughly investigated”.
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The events that occurred a month ago, in Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, are being thoroughly investigated by the @FiscaliaJal. If municipal police officers are guilty of committing excessive use of force, they will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
– Enrique Alfaro (@EnriqueAlfaroR) June 4, 2020
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“If the municipal police officers are guilty of committing an excess in the use of force, they will be punished with the full weight of the law,” he warned. “In Jalisco, the abuse of anyone is not tolerated. The public force is to take care of the citizens, “emphasized the governor.
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For its part, the Human Rights Commission of the state of Jalisco, reported in your Twitter account on Wednesday, he has already started an independent investigation to clarify what happened and asked the police to act in accordance with the law and avoid abuse of power.
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“The excessive use of force and mistreatment of people by police authorities is unacceptable,” said the agency, which has not ruled out that the arrest originated from the lack of masks.
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But both Governor Alfaro and the state prosecutor insist that Giovanni López’s arrest was never due to the fact that he did not have his face mask on, endorsing the version of the police officers involved in his death, above what was said by the relatives of the passed away. They consider it a “malicious management of information”.
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