Questions remain about videotaped Mexico 'massacre

[Judi Lynn]

Mexicans are left wondering what happened to about a dozen men who were seen lined up against a wall by drug cartel gunmen

By The Associated Press
February 28, 2022, 6:01 PM
• 3 min read

SAN JOSE DE GRACIA, Mexico -- Mexicans were left wondering Monday what happened to about a dozen men who were seen lined up against a wall by drug cartel gunmen toting assault rifles.

In a video apparently shot by a resident of the town San Jose de Gracia in the western state of Michoacan and posted on social media, bursts of gunfire broke out and smoke covered the scene.

The camera cuts away, but some assumed all the men — perhaps as many as 17 — died.

But prosecutors said Monday that they cannot say how many died, because the attackers cleaned up the scene, washed the sidewalk and carted away any bodies. Investigators found only a bag full of brains and shell casings at the scene.

More:
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/questions-remain-videotaped-mexico-massacre-83166568

[Judi Lynn]

1. Video appears to show more than a dozen men lined up outside funeral service and executed by cartel

Video appears to show more than a dozen men lined up outside funeral service and executed by cartel gunmen in Mexico

MARCH 1, 2022 / 12:33 PM / CBS/AP

Mexicans were left wondering what happened to more than a dozen men who were seen lined up against a wall by drug cartel gunmen toting assault rifles. In a video apparently shot by a resident of the town San Jose de Gracia in the western state of Michoacan and posted on social media, bursts of gunfire broke out and smoke covered the scene.


The camera cuts away, but some assumed all the men — perhaps as many as 17 — died. But prosecutors said Monday that they cannot say how many died, because the attackers cleaned up the scene, washed the sidewalk and carted away any bodies. Investigators found only a bag full of brains and shell casings at the scene.

. . .

The attack Sunday occurred outside a funeral service for the mother of an alleged hitman who had worked for the Jalisco cartel. Jalisco has been fighting long-running, bloody turf battles in Michoacan against rival gangs.

The Department of Justice considers the Jalisco cartel to be "one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world."

More:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/video-men-funeral-service-executed-cartel-gunmen-mexico/

[Judi Lynn]

2. Killers had 5 hours to clean up after Michoacn massacre and remove bodies

The homicides weren't reported to state authorities until 3 hours after they occurred

Published on Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Security forces didn’t attend the scene of a massacre in Michoacán on Sunday until almost five hours after it occurred, giving the perpetrators ample time to clean up and remove the bodies.

As many as 17 people were killed in a firing squad-style execution after they were forced to leave a wake they were attending in the center of the town of San José de Gracia.

According to Michoacán Attorney General Adrián López Solís, the massacre took place at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, but state and federal security forces didn’t reach the crime scene until 8 p.m.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/killers-had-5-hours-to-clean-up-massacre/

(Short article, no more at link.)

This has happened in Colombia, with local police or the military looking the other way while paramilitaries commit massacres, even public tortures extending over long periods of time, as published in Spanish language sources. I never imagined it could get this bad in Mexico.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Funeral Massacre Latest Example of Extreme Violence Causing Michoacn Exodus

DISPLACEMENT
/3 MAR 2022
BY SCOTT MISTLER-FERGUSON

Without the bodies, the exact number of people executed in broad daylight at a funeral in Mexico's western state of Michoacán remains unclear, but such episodes of extreme violence are contributing to widespread forced displacement in the area.

The footage of mourners being lined up against a wall before being shot dead in a hail of gunfire has shocked the nation and been the subject of much speculation, particularly since police did not arrive at the scene in the San José de Gracia municipality until five hours after the shooting, by which time the gunmen had removed the dead bodies from the area and cleaned the blood from the walls and street, according to Michoacán State Attorney General Adrián Solís López.

Without the bodies, the exact number of people executed in broad daylight at a funeral in Mexico's western state of Michoacán remains unclear, but such episodes of extreme violence are contributing to widespread forced displacement in the area.

The footage of mourners being lined up against a wall before being shot dead in a hail of gunfire has shocked the nation and been the subject of much speculation, particularly since police did not arrive at the scene in the San José de Gracia municipality until five hours after the shooting, by which time the gunmen had removed the dead bodies from the area and cleaned the blood from the walls and street, according to Michoacán State Attorney General Adrián Solís López.

More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/funeral-massacre-latest-example-of-extreme-violence-causing-michoacan-exodus/