Patrol Officer Set On Fire During Raging Police Brutality Protests In Mexico

As the second week of George Floyd demonstrations in America actually begin to shift toward being mostly peaceful, sporadic violent spin-off protests and clashes have been observed in various parts of the world, as we noted previously.

Arguably the most horrific incident involving an attack on police has come out of Mexico. On Thursday a video went viral on social media which showed police confronting a crowd in the city of Guadalajara.

Amid the mayhem, a man approaches a motorcycle patrol officer from behind while dousing him in gasoline or a flammable liquid, and proceeds to set the officer on fire. 

A police officer was set on fire by a demonstrator in Guadalajara, Mexico, during protests over the killing of a man in police custody pic.twitter.com/SsFH4CpUMi

— TRT World (@trtworld) June 5, 2020

The masked attacker then sprints from the scene as dozens of other police rush to put the flames out. Fortunately, the officer appears to survive the attack, walking away without severe injury.

The unrest came amid protests sparked by the death of 30-year old Giovanni Lopez, in what’s believed to the Mexico’s own latest controversial ‘police brutality death’. He reportedly died a mere hour into police custody after being detained for merely not wearing mask amid mandated COVID-19 social distancing measures.  

The Guardian details: 

Giovanni López, a 30-year-old bricklayer, was detained on 4 May by municipal police officers in the town of Ixtlahuacán de Los Membrillos near Guadalajara.

Video of the incident emerged on Wednesday, and shows the police officers with assault rifles forcing López into a police pickup truck as bystanders plead for his release.

“Just for not a wearing a mask?” asks one witness, incredulously. “He was resisting,” answers an officer.

López’s family later found his dead body at a hospital, where he showed signs of possible torture. 

COPS MURDERED GIOVANNI

Giovanni López, 30yo day laborer arrested for not wearing a mask, criminalised by cops and brutally beaten to death bc he belongs to the Mexican racialized underclass.

ACAB EVERYWHERE

https://t.co/ifIhGkqFhm… #JusticiaParaGiovanni#JusticeForGiovanni pic.twitter.com/Qv617s5gWB

— Sergio Beltrán-García (@ssbeltran) June 4, 2020

The unrest is expected to continue given the arrest video sparked widespread condemnation and outrage.

And the latest fire attack on the police officer was also met with widespread condemnation. But some radical elements in the US actually sided with the violent attacker who sought to murder the officer in the street.

Viral post from a self-identified communist urges others to “take notes” from a video showing a police officer being set on fire in Mexico. The post is still up on Twitter. #antifa https://t.co/YDbd9O8YDp pic.twitter.com/ke3qd9ehI3

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 5, 2020

It appears that some Antifa accounts in the US are spreading the video while actually praising the attacker, taking “inspiration” from the heinous attempt to kill police.

In the past days in places like New York and California, law enforcement officers responding to riot and looting situations have been killed by gunfire. 

Guadalajara Mexico Protest for the death of Giovanni Lopez while in custody of the police. Protest turned violent , ending with setting a police officer on Fire. Look for the reports because media isnt reporting, George Floyd started a world revolution. pic.twitter.com/ZOBaFTVawZ

— Brown Black Resistance (@BrownResistance) June 5, 2020

In at least two other instances, police have been targeted by vehicles, leaving officers hospitalized with serious injuries.