Yucatán Town Hall Riot After Detainee’s Death

Tzucacab, Yucatán — A mob caused significant destruction, looted, and set fire to furniture inside the town hall of Tzucacab after marching to demand justice for the death of Ángel Alejandro, a young man who died in the municipal jail.

Relatives of the 24-year-old have requested that authorities clarify the circumstances of his death. They explained that he was detained this past Monday, allegedly for disturbing public order while intoxicated and for shouting slogans against the mayor. He was found dead the following morning in his cell. The version of events provided to his family by authorities was that he died by hanging.

On Thursday night, protesters chanted “Justice!” and “No more abuses!” Meanwhile, the Green Party mayor, Eric Fernando Ku Caamal, fled after receiving threats that his home would be set on fire.

The enraged townspeople entered the municipal offices, removed furniture, and set it ablaze. It appears that valuable objects were taken, and a vehicle was also burned. Firefighters from the State Public Security Secretariat arrived at the scene to extinguish the flames, but the building had already been largely consumed by the fire.

As of the editorial deadline, there had been no official report of arrests related to the disturbances or an official tally of the damages.

During the march, Ángel Alejandro’s family demanded the presence of state officials to clarify the case, stating they had no trust in the municipal authorities. The complainants denounced that they were not immediately notified of the death, which they say occurred around 3 a.m. A relative informed the young man’s wife four hours later.

They also accused authorities of not allowing them to see the body in the cell where it was supposedly found and rejected the official claim that a brother-in-law had signed an authorization for the removal of the corpse.

The family questioned the lack of documentary or photographic evidence of the incident and called for a clear investigation into the circumstances of the young man’s death. The deceased’s spouse reported that she was never notified of her husband’s arrest and denied that any prior complaint existed against him, as authorities had asserted.

For its part, the Human Rights Commission of the State of Yucatán expressed its concern over the events and lamented the acts of violence that occurred in the municipality of Tzucacab, which it said put the physical integrity of the protesters and other people at the location at risk.

The commission acknowledged the legitimate dissatisfaction surrounding the recent death of a person in the municipal jail and announced it had initiated an ex-officio complaint on the matter. However, it urged the public to trust that the competent authorities will carry out the pertinent investigations to clarify the causes of death with promptness and transparency.