Michoacán: Contrary to Castillo's claim, Federal Police gunned down 16 unarmed civilians

Lucio R. Borderland Beat republished from Animal Politico with material from Aristegui, Proceso and Univision

A journalistic investigation reveals that at least 16 people were killed by federal police on January 6, in Apatzingán Michoacán  

This truck carried 6 young lemon pickers, in the video you can see that one young man was suffering and alive, police would not allow medical assistance for the wounded -click to enlarge

"One of the autodefensa fell to his knees  and was kneeling with hands folded at  the nape of his neck;  He told them that they had no weapons and  pleaded with the Feds  not to shoot , but loud shots rang out and he fell dead  from three bullets.”

A journalistic investigation reveals that at least 16 unarmed people were killed by federal police on January 6, in Apatzingán Michoacán  

Members of the autodefensa forces of Michoacán were killed in Apatzingan on January 6 by elements of the Federal Police.  Their deaths were not because of the "cross-fire", as had been assured by former Michoacán security commissioner,  Alfredo Castillo.   This was revealed  in a report  supported by 50 interviews, death certificates, and audio recordings in an  investigation by  Mexican journalist Laura Castellanos.

The attack was not only against men, but women and children as well.

One of the witnesses to the attack said that his companions were unarmed when they were attacked by the police, who had been ordered them to raise their hands and kneel.

"We were in a state of confusion and heard nothing else after we heard the officers say, "kill those dogs, kill them all!"

Castellanos says, federal elements left the wounded to bleed without calling for help for over an hour.   If an ambulance had been dispatched to transfer the victims for medical care, there would have been fewer fatalities,  the hospital was less than a half mile from the scene.

The report indicates that the director of the hospital, Carlos Torres Vega, explained that the authorities blocked the transfer of the wounded.

 "The Feds prevented the transfer  of the boys, even though they were not being detained".

(The 16 minute video below has important and detailed information.  Vato is translating the narrative.  At bottom of this post is information about the website attack of Aristegui News after the publishing of this report)

More than three months after the events, the National Safety Commission announced this past Saturday that there will be  an investigation into Apatzingán, following  anonymously receiving,  

 "a video which we can infer alleged acts of excessive use of force or abuse of authority,  by members of the Federal Police, in the town of Apatzingán".

The Commission reported that notice was given  to the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and the unit of Internal Affairs of the Federal Police to initiate investigations and "define or determine any responsibility against public servants."

However, it does not mention the date of this occurring.

The incident occurred on  January 6 and the victims were members of a autodefensa (self-defense) group that aimed to stop the leader of the cartel of the Caballeros Templarios, (KnightsTemplar), Servando Gómez, alias "Tuta", who was subsequently arrested on 27 February.

According to the investigation, the victims were protesting the dissolution of the group ordered by Alfredo  Castillo, who was then Commissioner for safety and the Integral Development of Michoacán. They also asked for compensation for their services in the search for "La Tuta".

About the shooting, Castillo said; "almost all people could have been executed by their own comrades, that is, by a matter of cross-fire, and there are only two people who both received impacts wounds from Federal Police but they also received impacts from the civil group". (meaning the two could have been killed by either the federal police or the unarmed AD who had only sticks and pipes in their vehicles)

"It is impossible to determine which of those bullets killed them, (this is the _____ who was able to determine Hipolito’s son Manuel’s weapon caused most of the killings in the December shootout)

But the evidence will make clear that the both vehicles and bodies both have bullet impacts in the front and in the back,  and the Federal Police would not have shot these people in the back.”

“There is no evidence of that. ."He added.

Two weeks after the shooting occurred in Apatzingán, Castillo left his office, while the local control of the Federal Police, was with Fausto Arenas.

After publishing the report,  journalist Laura Castellanos said she has been harassed and threatened, so she is now under the accompaniment of the organization, Article 19, which defends  Journalists.

A day after the fact, on January 7, a witness said that three people unarmed and with their hands on the nape of the neck were executed by federal forces. 

"One of the autodefensa fell to his knees  and was kneeling with hands in the nape of the neck; He said that they had no weapons and pleaded with the Feds that they not shoot, but loud shots rang out and he fell dead from three bullets.”

It should be noted that after the publication of this video and report, Aristegui News came under internet attack.  From Saturday the news site  experienced multiple  DDoS attacks.

A denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is an attempt to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. A DoS attack generally consists of efforts to temporarily or indefinitely interrupt or suspend services of a host connected to the Internet.

The attacks came just a day after Aristegui News, along with Proceso and Univision , jointly published the report about the January 6^th attack on unarmed citizens by federal police.