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Notes on the Aftermath at Ascension
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Late note: The attorney general of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Patricia Gonzalez, has scheduled a press conference about the lynching in Ascension for Friday morning.
by Chris Covert
The lynching at Ascension, Chihuahua appears to be a watershed event in Mexican history. Following Mexican drug crimes news in only the last six months, I have watched a lynching attempt a month. Ascension is the first with fatalities.
The following is compilation of notes from news reports and readers comments about the Ascension lynching.
- Initial reports put the size of the gang involved at six. Now reports are five were involved. The two deceased were both minors.
- About a thousand people were involved in the lynching, according to some reports. Others have the number at 400. Think about that. Eliminating old people and children, that's close to one in 4 individuals. That's a lot of suspects.
- The initial press released by the Chihuahua state Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado, Patricia Gonzalez the day following the lynching was so boilerplate, it is hard to imagine a reason why anything was released at all. The translation boiled down to, "when we find out whodunit, we'll git 'em." I suspect Ms. Gonzalez will run up on a wall 400 or more individuals thick.
- Just before the lynching several citizens crowded into town's mayor, Rafael Camarillo, office protesting the law enforcement situation. The crowd accused police of being hitmen for organized crime The mayor then fired 12 municipal police agents for "collusion" on the spot, and the officers turned in their badges and guns that day.
- Rafael Camarillo leaves office October 9th, as a part of the change in government following elections in Chihuahua last July.
- A total of 300 Mexican Federal agents were deployed to Ascension the day of the attack aboard 50 pickup trucks to restore order and recover the corpses of the deceased. Helicopters were also part of the deployment. That number is the same size of the Juarez Mexican Federal police deployment, a city 1000 times the population of Ascension.
- According to reports, Ascension has been the focus of a large number of abductions in recent months.
- The lynching began at about 1000 hrs. The villagers found three of the kidnappers in a truck and rushed it, overturning it. The villagers then seized two of other kidnappers. The mob fell on these two with shovels and tire irons. One said, "It was crazy."
- The mayor attempted to intervene and tried to explain they had the wrong guys, but the mob disbelieved him. The mob refused to allow medical attention to the wounded suspects. The other suspects continually shouted to the villagers threats about coming back for revenge.
- Protesters in Ascension said the local police were very brave, in scolding and jailing drunks, but did nothing against criminals.
- The abduction suspects used three vehicles to kidnap the teenaged female victim: a Ford Explorer, a Dodge Ram and a Chevrolet Suburban. Andres Ramirez and Raymundo Ortega Rascon were riding in the Dodge Ram. Ramirez was carrying an AK-47 when he was seized by villagers.
- The Dodge Ram was also carrying the kidnapping victim when it was seized by villagers. The Dodge Ram hit the turned over Ford Explorer.
- The three surviving kidnapping suspects tried to escape when they saw the arrival of security reinforcements.
- Several of the purported leaders of the lynching have reportedly left Ascension in response to police raids the night following the lynching.
- Subsequent to the news of the kidnapping villagers themselves set up roadblocks to capture criminals. Reports say this is how the suspects were stopped.
- The leader of the criminal group that did the kidnapping, Arturo Matancilla Lozoya, was only recently released from prison. The two deceased minors reportedly had brothers serving time in prison.
- Mexicans are fired up about this lynching. Comments at El Blog del Terror are nearly unanimous in support of the villagers at Ascension.
And many of the comments hint that this reaction to crime may well spread.
"A proposal for the government to deliver an M-16 rifle to each head of household and make them sign that they agree to return it after dealing with all the evils that exist in Mexico (drug traffickers, kidnappers, rapists, corrupt politicians and police) In less than 2 years, our Mexico will be again a safe country."
"Ascension with an average of 2000 inhabitants, ordered nothing more and nothing less than 300 troops with the support of soldiers to rescue these petty criminals ,..., how will the government send troops if a city with more than 400.000 inhabitants makes a similar move?"
"and apart from this, I think it would be a good option, as the US, to legalize weapons here mainly in the north (Tamaulipas)..."
"...the drop of glass has been poured, the municipality is the beginning of everything in weeks or months, the rebellion will expand across the north of the republic there will be many dead Government soldiers used to kill people and hide the information, but will emerge and begin to organize movements in the south, the revolution is inevitable, the ghosts of 100 years ago began to come to Mexico. get ready compatriots that Mexico where people do nothing is coming to an end ..."
Posted by: badanov 2010-09-24 |
