Mexico Police Officer Dead After Trying To Intervene in Lynching of Murder Suspect

A police officer has been killed in the Mexican city of Zacatelco after he tried to stop an angry mob from killing two men suspected of killing a taxi driver. This marks an alarming rise in Mexico where citizens take it upon themselves to punish those who break the law, with police being accused of not doing their jobs.

This is especially true in Zacatelco, the capital city of the state of Tlaxcala. Citizens in the city have long complained about crimes going unpunished in the city, and citizens have grown so frustrated that they formed an angry mob after the brutal robbery and killing of an elderly taxi driver by two men.

Police tried to arrest the two suspects, but much like an incident that happened late last month, the angry mob pounced as soon as police managed to catch two of the four suspects. After taking them away from the police, they then beat them up in a local square as a form of mob justice.

According to the BBC, Tlaxcala State Police tried to intervene, but the mob turned on them, seizing two officers and attacking them. Police managed to save two of the suspects, as well as one officer. However, the angry mob managed to get hold of the other police officer and continued beating him up.

Police called on reinforcements to save the other officer, and when they arrived, they were finally able to rescue their colleague. He was then sent to the hospital but soon succumbed to his injuries. Police reported that the mob held him for several hours before releasing him when police reinforcements arrived.

The two suspects were reportedly responsible for killing a taxi driver after they and two others tried to rob him. The taxi driver, described as an elderly man, resisted and this resulted in the four suspects killing him.

Roman Catholic Church Condemns Mexico Lynchings

This was the latest in the growing number of lynchings in Mexico, with the last one happening just recently in Guerrero State. An angry mob also attacked a woman after police took her into custody. She was allegedly caught on CCTV footage trying to transport the body of a missing 8-year-old girl.

Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church, which remains prominent in Mexico, recently condemned the attack in Guerrero State. Father Tomas Martinez Rivera, a vicar in one of Taxco's parishes who knew the family of the now-confirmed dead 8-year-old child and the suspect in her killing has spoken out against the lynching.

The priest spoke to Crux Now and stated, "The mob was increasing. Some of the people there were drinking alcohol. The atmosphere was getting tense," lamenting that police could not do anything as they would have also been lunched by the angry mob. "The agents couldn't do anything because they were also being menaced. The crowd would set fire to their cars if they tried to take the victims away."

Impunity Making Citizens To Take Justice Into Their Own Hands and Commit Lynchings Around Mexico

There is an air of helplessness around Mexico as more often than not, criminals, especially ones backed by the big cartels with connections to local government, get away with almost anything. Because of this, lynchings by angry citizens in Mexico have slowly become more widespread, often blaming the government for its inaction against crime.

According to the Hindustan Times, a study by the Autonomous University of Mexico found that 1,423 lynchings happened between 2016 and 2022. More and more keep happening.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Lynchings in Mexico: When angry mobs act as judge, jury and executioners - FRANCE 24 English