Thread: Protesters demand justice in Mexican activist's killing

Protesters demand justice in Mexican activist's killing

Published December 23, 2010

Ciudad Juarez – Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Ciudad Juarez, a gritty border city that has become Mexico's murder capital, to demand justice for Marisela Escobedo, an anti-crime activist who was murdered last week in front of the governor's palace in Chihuahua city.

The protest was staged on Wednesday, a day before the one-week anniversary of Escobedo's killing, by grassroots and community organizations.

The protesters began their march at the Perches funeral home, where Escobedo's wake was held, and ended the protest at the Chihuahua state Attorney General's Office.

The marchers, who carried signs that said "Justice for Marisela," "More than 3,000 Murders" and "If You Can't Get It Done, Resign," covered their faces for security reasons.

Escobedo was gunned down on Dec. 16 after spending two years demanding justice for her slain daughter.

Her burial was moved up to last Saturday amid fears of an attack, and she was laid to rest amid tight security.

Escobedo had staged numerous marches and other protests in Ciudad Juarez, located across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, and in Chihuahua city, the state capital, demanding that the governor ensure there was justice in her daughter's case.

More than 700 candles have been placed in the past week at the spot where the activist was slain.

Community organizations said they would go to the governor's palace every day at 11:00 a.m. to protest Escobedo's murder.

The 52-year-old woman was fatally shot while picketing in front of the governor's palace in the northern state of Chihuahua.

Escobedo was shot by one of the three men who approached her and initiated an argument during her protest in Chihuahua city.

Images captured by security cameras show Escobedo crossing the street to get away from the three assailants, one of whom followed the woman and shot her in the head at point-blank range.

The shooter then jumped into a car and the other two men fled on foot.

Escobedo was buried in the same cemetery where her murdered daughter, Rubi Marisol Freyre, is buried.

Escobedo led marches and protests to demand action in the August 2008 murder of her 16-year-old daughter and an end to impunity for the killers of women and girls in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua's largest city.

Rubi's boyfriend, Sergio Barraza Bocanegra, was arrested and charged with the crime in 2009, but his trial ended April 30 in an acquittal, with judges citing a lack of evidence.

Though an appellate court subsequently overturned that decision and found Barraza guilty, he remains at large.

Barraza's family subsequently threatened the victim's mother for trying to conduct her own investigation, Escobedo told El Diario de Juarez newspaper earlier this month.

Escobedo said she learned Barraza moved to Zacatecas state after his acquittal in the first trial and that he had joined Los Zetas, perhaps the most ruthless of Mexico's powerful drug cartels.

Gunmen set fire early Saturday to the lumber yard owned by Escobedo's boyfriend in Ciudad Juarez and kidnapped his brother.

At least five community activists have been murdered in the past two years in Chihuahua, where they must contend with violence from drug traffickers and abuses at the hands of federal forces.

Chihuahua is Mexico's most violent state, with Ciudad Juarez registering some 3,100 murders this year

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2 ... z19OVZI1LA

A 52yr. old woman has to take on this by herself, while her people all come here to drop anchor Mexico Sucks!

Outrageous. And what so many still don't understand is the link between illegal immigration and the illegal drug trade. Work by day, the cover, run drugs by night, the mission and the money.

Mexico: Family of Dead Activist Flees to U.S.
By ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: December 27, 2010


The relatives of an activist who was shot dead outside the Chihuahua state government’s office have fled to the United States, state officials said Monday. Marisela Escobedo was killed on Dec. 16 as she mounted a vigil demanding the arrest of the man who confessed to killing her daughter RubÃ*. The suspect, Sergio Barraza, was freed by a court in April. The decision was later reversed by a higher court, but by then he had vanished. Graciela Ortiz González, the state secretary for government, said Monday that family members had crossed the international bridge to El Paso, Texas, despite state offers of protection.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/world ... .html?_r=2

The part I find most intriging is they come here and complain about the way they are treated instead of trying to make it right over there it blows my mind to hear how they dispise the american people and yet look at how they are to eachother!