Mexican Death Squad Kills U.S. Reporter
Striking teachers, workers and indigenous activists in the historic Mexican city of Oaxaca have for months been involved in a campaign to oust the corrupt Governor of the state, Ulises Ruiz. (Oaxaca is the name of one of Mexico’s 32 states, and also that state’s capital city.) In Oaxaca Friday Oct. 27th, 2006, armed goons attacked a barricade erected by demonstrators across a road in the old city - they fired shots that took the lives of three men - one of which was an American journalist from New York’s Independent Media Center, William Bradley Roland (36). Another victim killed during the incident has been identified as a schoolteacher named Emililio Alofonzo Fabian. Videotape was shot of the attack and broadcast on Televisa, a large Mexican television network. The paramilitary gunmen who killed Will have since been identified by name, each having connections to Oaxaca’s ruling political party, the PRI.
The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, made the following statement: "It appears that Mr. Will was killed during a shoot out between what may have been local police, and protesters." However, Will was an unarmed journalist whose only weapon was a camera. Fellow activists maintain they were also unarmed, and had only sticks and rocks to defend themselves. It is obvious looking at the video of the incident, that the so-called "police" the U.S. Ambassador refers to are nothing more than thugs.
Mexican President Vicente Fox has ordered troops into the area, a provocative move that is sure to bring more violence. The question is, now that an American citizen has been murdered by a death squad known to be made up of individuals connected to Mexican government forces, what will the U.S. State Department do?
Activists in the U.S. will be pressing the State Department to investigate Will’s murder, and to demand that his killers be brought to justice. Calls will also be made for solidarity with the Mexican movement for social justice, a cause that Will gave his life to while documenting events in Oaxaca. Read the full story about what's going on in Oaxaca, at New York's Independent Media Center.
[ William Bradley Roland, just hours before his murder in Oaxaca, Mexico. ]
The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, made the following statement: "It appears that Mr. Will was killed during a shoot out between what may have been local police, and protesters." However, Will was an unarmed journalist whose only weapon was a camera. Fellow activists maintain they were also unarmed, and had only sticks and rocks to defend themselves. It is obvious looking at the video of the incident, that the so-called "police" the U.S. Ambassador refers to are nothing more than thugs.
[ The murderers of William Bradley Roland, caught on videotape as they press their assualt. The goons have been identified as Juan Carlos Soriano Velasco "El Chapulín" (at left in red t-shirt), Oaxacan police; Manuel Aguilar (middle, dark jacket), chief of staff of Santa Lucia, and Santiago Zárate (on the right in the red shirt), Director of Public Safety. ]
Mexican President Vicente Fox has ordered troops into the area, a provocative move that is sure to bring more violence. The question is, now that an American citizen has been murdered by a death squad known to be made up of individuals connected to Mexican government forces, what will the U.S. State Department do?
[ People trying to help William Bradley Roland as he lay in the street with a bullet in his chest. He died before reaching the hospital. The reporter for New York's Independent Media Center was unarmed, as were the others who died with him. Will the U.S. State Department demand that the killers be brought to justice? ]
Activists in the U.S. will be pressing the State Department to investigate Will’s murder, and to demand that his killers be brought to justice. Calls will also be made for solidarity with the Mexican movement for social justice, a cause that Will gave his life to while documenting events in Oaxaca. Read the full story about what's going on in Oaxaca, at New York's Independent Media Center.
<< Home