A police officer was set on fire while confronting a group of demonstrators in Mexico. Protests and rioting in the country were triggered by the death of a local man shortly after his detention.
The incident occurred in the city of Guadalajara, the capital of Mexico’s western state of Jalisco. The video circulating on social media shows a group of police officers on motorcycles in a standoff with protesters. At one point, a man wearing a mask and dark sunglasses pours flammable liquid on the back of one of the officers and sets him on fire.
The policeman runs and falls to the pavement as fellow officers and bystanders rush to help. They manage to quickly put out the fire, after which the officer gets up and leaves the scene.
The protests were sparked by the death of Giovanni Lopez, 30, who was arrested a month ago near Guadalajara. Hours after his arrest, the man was taken from his cell to a hospital, where he died. His brother released footage showing police using force while arresting Lopez.
There were reports that Lopez was detained for not wearing a mask in public – a measure implemented to stop the spread of Covid-19 – but the authorities denied this was the case. The circumstances are being investigated.
In recent days, protests against police brutality have been taking place in a number of countries in the name of their own victims. In dozens of US cities, people have taken to the streets to demand justice for George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody.
In France, people have been demanding justice for Adama Traore, a young French-Malian man who died in police custody in 2016. Traore ran from undercover officers because he did not have an identity card on him. He was later detained by three Gendarmerie officers, all of whom reportedly put their weight on the man’s back. Traore’s family believes he died because he had trouble breathing.
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