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Angry mob kills 2 federal agents outside Mexico City
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MEXICO_MOB_KILLING?SI...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20041123-2108-mexi...
By WILL WEISSERT
Nov 24
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A mob angry about recent child abductions cornered plainclothes federal agents taking photos of students at a school and burned
the officers alive, mistaking the agents for kidnappers in the latest example of vigilante justice in a country beset by high crime.
Officials said two agents were killed and one was hospitalized.
Federal police director Adm. Jose Luis Figueroa told local media that the three agents went to the school on Mexico City's southeastern outskirts in
an unmarked car as part of an operation against drug dealing.
The killings, filmed and broadcast on local television stations, were carried out by a crowd of people who cheered, chanted and shouted obscenities as
they kicked and beat the agents. The mob then dowsed two officers with gasoline and set them ablaze.
Police didn't make any immediate arrests; officials said they were investigating.
In the video, the agents, blood streaming down their faces, spoke into the cameras before the burning, saying they were federal anti-terrorism agents
who had been sent to the area on official business.
The agents were held by the mob for several hours before they were killed. Figueroa said heavy traffic and residents who blocked authorities from
moving kept police from responding in time.
The third agent, badly beaten, was rescued by police.
Images taken from a helicopter showed dozens of residents milling around the two burned, motionless bodies left in a street. Dozens of police in full
riot gear moved in more than an hour later and dispersed the crowd.
The violence began in the early evening, when locals collared three men staking out a school in the San Juan Ixtlayopan neighborhood.
The area has been tense since two youngsters disappeared and were feared kidnapped from the school. Some in the crowd appeared to believe the agents
were kidnappers.
When asked about complaints that authorities had failed to respond to demands to investigate the disappearances, Figueroa said a full schedule had
prohibited federal authorities from concentrating on the case.
Mexicans, frustrated by government corruption and soaring crime rates, have often taken justice into their own hands.
Earlier this month in another town on the capital's outskirts, police rescued a 28-year-old man that residents were threatening to beat to death for
allegedly trying to steal a guitar and tape deck from a community center.
Two years ago, a mob beat to death two of three youths who allegedly tried to rob a taxi driver in Mexico City.
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Bruce R Leech
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Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
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Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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Be careful when taking Pictures 
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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JESSE
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This was a Fallujah style murder, saw it on TV last night and all i can say is, "Baja should be independent from Mexico", people down there are
animals.
Can you send the Marines to pacify that stupid little town? i wouldnt mind if they dropped a couple of 500 pound bombs on those filthy animals.
And get this, it took the news media 10 minutes to get there, and it took the cops 3 hours, 3 hours!!!!!!! this is a prime example of whats wrong with
this nation.
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Barney
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This news report aired on CNN this afternoon. According to they're reporting it had been a total of 5 officers that had been beaten and then burned to
death.
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Anonymous
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Mob's killing of two federal agents in Mexico sparks massive police raid, debate on vigilantism
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20041124-2024-mobk...
By Traci Carl
November 24, 2004
MEXICO CITY ? Hundreds of police stormed a capital-area neighborhood Wednesday night, breaking down doors in a hunt for the leaders of a vigilante mob
that burned two police officers to death and left their charred bodies in the street.
The massive incursion came a day after news cameras recorded the fiery deaths: A young man, his face bloody and swollen, struggles to tell a
television reporter that he is an undercover federal agent, then a mob pours gasoline on him and a fellow officer and sets them ablaze.
The horrific footage, carried by all major television networks, put a spotlight on growing vigilante justice in Mexico, where police are viewed as
inept at best and corrupt at worst and where many people say they must take security into their own hands as crime soars.
Around dusk Wednesday, police and federal agents aboard a convoy of government vehicles sped into San Juan Ixtayopan, sealing off streets and mounting
a house to house search for the mob leaders.
Officials said at least 20 people were arrested in the 2?-hour sweep. Three were directly involved in organizing the mob killings and that at least
one was accused of sparking the blaze, officials said.
The officers' deaths came amid rumors that children had been kidnapped from an elementary school in San Juan Ixtayopan, a neighborhood of 35,000
people on Mexico City's southern outskirts. When people saw three men taking photos Tuesday and staking out the school, they took action.
One after another, residents set off dozens of crude, rooftop bullhorn alarms that serve as a backup security measure in some poor districts.
Neighbors poured into the streets, where they cornered and then beat the men. Onlookers cheered and shouted obscenities.
Reporters arrived, and the assailants pushed the victims before TV cameras so they could be interviewed. Barely conscious and struggling to talk, they
nodded and gave one-word answers when asked if they were federal agents.
As television helicopters hovered overhead, police arrived. One agent was rescued, carried away unconscious by his arms and legs. He was in critical
condition Wednesday evening, authorities said.
The other two officers were soaked with gasoline and set ablaze, their charred bodies left in the street as dozens of people milled around.
The federal police director, Adm. Jose Luis Figueroa, said the three plainclothes agents were in the neighborhood to investigate drug dealing near the
school.
Talk focused on the police themselves. Others said vigilante justice is to be expected in a country where police are infamous for seeking bribes and
often implicated in the same crimes they are supposed to prevent.
Mexico City Police Chief Marcelo Ebrard said local police who were on the scene Tuesday couldn't control the crowd until reinforcements arrived.
"The problem was that there were more than 2,000 people, angry, out of control, at night," he said.
There appeared to be little remorse in San Juan Ixtayopan, a picturesque community tucked into pine-covered hills at the foot of a snowcapped volcano.
Before Wednesday night's raid, people milled about in the central plaza, discussing the bloodshed. Vendors loudly hawked tabloid newspapers carrying
photos of the victims and boldfaced headlines that screamed "LYNCHED."
Many people were reluctant to speak to reporters. Some denied being present during the beatings. Others said they stayed up through the night crying
after trying unsuccessfully to stop the assault.
But some residents complained police had ignored reports of the kidnappings and said they did not regret what had happened.
"If the police aren't going to do anything, then the town has to take matters into their own hands," said 15-year-old Maria Eva Labana, who said she
witnessed some of the attack firsthand before she ran home to watch the rest on TV.
Figueroa said a heavy case load had kept authorities from concentrating on the purported kidnappings. Community leader Mario Rios said he had received
no reports of kidnappings and knew nothing of children disappearing. Several parents interviewed at the school said they had heard rumors of
disappearances but knew of no actual cases.
Residents had been on edge, however, saying they reported seeing strange men who also claimed to be federal agents taking photographs of
schoolchildren a couple of weeks ago, but never heard anything more about it from local police.
Most Mexicans believe they must protect themselves from crime.
San Juan Ixtayopan has only 12 police officers, or about one for every 3,000 residents, said Melquiades Martinez, an official with the Federal
Preventative Police. Local officials said they distributed the bullhorn alarms, which are equipped with flashing red lights, to help people feel
safer.
Earlier this month in another town on the capital's outskirts, police rescued a 28-year-old man residents were threatening to beat to death for
allegedly trying to steal a guitar and tape deck from a community center. Two years ago, a mob killed two of three youths who allegedly tried to rob a
taxi driver in Mexico City.
"Anarchy is growing, broadening, proliferating in different areas of the country," said Jose Antonio Crespo, a political analyst.
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Dave
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I'm not one to justify mob violence or shift blame from those responsible but:
EVERYONE who has ever demanded or accepted a bribe shares responsibility for these murders.
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